Features of Science

Question 1

Key features:

Answer 1

• Objectivity
• Emperical Method
• Replicability
• Control
• Hypothesis testing

Question 2

Objectivity

Answer 2

(Study) not affected by the expectations of the researcher

Question 3

Emperical Method

Answer 3

Information is gained through direct observation/experiment. It’s important as it allows to test the validity of a theory through direct testing

Question 4

Replicability

Answer 4

Research should be able to be repeated
* If the outcome is the same this affirms the truth of the original results
* Its important for scientists to record their procedures carefully so someone else can repeat them exactly and verify the original results
* Unrepeatable results may imply flaws or lack of control

Question 5

Control

Answer 5

Research is carried out in controlled conditions
Facts are accquired through controlled research

Question 6

Hypothesis testing

Answer 6

For research to be considered scientific, it must be able to generate testable expectations

Question 7

Different views on psychology as a science:

Answer 7

To what extent is scientific research good?
* Science takes the nomothetic approach, looking to make generalisations about people and looking to find similarities (wider population)
* Some psychologists oppose this and prefer the idiographic approach which means studying people as individual cases, without comparing them to others and making generalisations about them

Question 8

Thomas Kuhn Theory: Paradigms of science

Answer 8

Kuhn put in a theory that there are 3 stages of science:
1. Prescience
2. Normal Science
3. Revolutionary Science

Question 9

Prescience

Answer 9

A variety of theories that attempt to explain a phenomenon, but there is no generally accepted theory/paradigm

Question 10

Normal Science

Answer 10

A theory has emerged and is generally accepted/dominated the science
Over a period of time, however, evidence appears that contradicts this dominant paradigm

Question 11

Revolutionary Science

Answer 11

Evidence against existing paradigm continues to grow- Paradigm is questioned
There is a division and difference in opinion between scientists
Alternative theories are put forward, until eventually a new theory is accepted- ‘paradigm shift’

Question 12

Psychology IS a science…

Answer 12

• Psychology has the same aims as the natural science- to describe, understand, predict and control behaviour
• Behaviourist, cognitive and biological approach use scientific methods e.g lab studies to investigate in a controlled, unbiased way
• Suggests taht throughout the 20th century + beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline

Question 13

Psychology ISNT a science…

Answer 13

• A limitation with psychology is that not all approaches use objective methods
• The humanistic approach rejects the scientific approach, preferring to focus on individual + subjective experience
• The psychodynamic approach makes use of the case study method which does not use representative sample