features of a science

• Paradigms and paradigm shifts

  Kuhn said that what distinguishes scientific disciplines from non scientific disciplines is a shared set of assumptions and methods - a paradigm

  Kuhn argued that social sciences lack a universally accepted paradigm and are best seen as pre-science unlike natural sciences. Paradigm shifts occur when there is a scientific revolution. A handful of researchers question the accepted paradigm when there is too much contadictory evidence to ignore.
• Theory construction

  A theory is a set of general laws or principles that have the ability to explain particular events or behaviours. Testing a theory depends on being able to make clear and precise statements on the basis of the theory. A hypothesis can then be tested using scientific methods to determine whether it will be supported or refuted. The process of deriving a new hypothesis from an existing theory is known as deduction.
• Falsifiability

  Popper argued that the key criterion of a scientific theory is its falsifiability. Genuine scientific theories should hold themselves up for hypothesis testing and the possibility of being proved false. Popper distinguished between theories which can be tested and falsified, and what he called pseudoscience which couldn't be falsified.
• Replicability

  If a scientific theory is to be trused, the findings from it must be shown to be repeated across a number of different contexts. By repeating the study, we can see the extent to which the findings can be generalised
• Objectivity

  Scientific researchers must keep a critical difference during research. They must not allow their personal opinions or biases to discolour the data or influence the behaviour of participants.As a general rule, those methods in psychology that are associated with the greatest level of control tend to be most objective.
• Empirical method

  Empirical methods emphasise the importance of data collected based on direct, sensory experience. The experimental method and the obsevational method are good examples of the empirical method in psychology. Early empiricists saw knowledge as determined only by experience and sense perception. A theory cannot claim to be scientific unless it has been empirically tested.