Features of a science

• Objectivity

  • All sources of personal bias are minimised so as not to distort or influence research process.
• How is objectivity applied to research?

  • Scientists must obtain objectivity in research.
  • They must not allow their personal opinions or biases to discolour the data they collect or influence the participants behaviour.
  • Lab experiments have the greatest level of control so tend to be the most objective.
• Empirical method

  Scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observation and experiences.
• What did John Locke contribute to features of a science?

  • Saw knowledge as determined by only experience and sensory perception.
  • Thus a theory cannot claim to be scientific unless it has been empirically tested and verified.
• Paradigm

  A set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline
• Paradigm shift

  The result of a scientific revolution, where there is significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline.
• What did Thomas Kuhn contribute to features of a science?

  • What distinguishes a scientific discipline from a non-scientific discipline is a paradigm.
  • Kuhn suggested social sciences (psychology) lack a universally accepted paradigm so are best seen as a pre-science.
• Hypothesis testing

  A key feature of a theory is that it should produce statements (hypotheses) which can then be tested. Which is the only way a theory can be falsified.
• Theory

  A set of general laws or principles that have the ability to explain particular behaviours or events.
• Falsifiability

  The principle that a theory cannot be considered as a scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue.
• What is a pseudoscience?

  Sciences which cannot be falsified
• How did Karl Popper contribute to features of a science?

  • The key criterion of a scientific theory is falsifiability.
• REPLICABILITY

  If a scientific theory is to be trusted the findings from it must be shown to be repeatable across a number of different contexts and circumstances.