Features of Science Flashcards
what is science?
science is a systematic approach to creating knowledge
the fact that it is systematic and controlled means that we can rely on it in order to predict and control the world
the scientific method
the method used to gain scientific knowledge is the scientific method
the scientific method starts with observations of phenomena in the world
in the inductive model this leads scientists to develop testable hypotheses which are then then tested empirically
this may lead to new questions and new hypotheses and eventually such data may be used to construct a theory
the deductive model places theory construction at the beginning, after making observations
in both cases the process is repeated over and over again to refine knowledge
the inductive scientific method
observations
develop testable hypothesis
conduct a study to test the hypothesis
draw conclusions
propose theory
repeat and refine
the deductive scientific method
observations
propose theory
develop testable hypothesis
conduct a study to test hypothesis
draw conclusions
repeat and refine
5 key features of science
empirical methods
objectivity
replicability
theory construction
hypothesis testing
empirical methods
empiricism is a method of gaining knowledge which relies on direct observational or testing, not hearsay or rational argument
information is gained through direct observation or experiments rather than from unfounded beliefs or reasoned argument
scientists look for empirically-based facts
this is important because people can make claims about anything, such as the truth of a theory or the benefits of a treatment, but the only way we know such things to be true is through direct testing i.e. empirical evidence
objectivity
an important aspect of empirical data is that it should be objective and unaffected by the expectations of the researcher
systematic collection of measurable data is at the heart of the scientific method
in order to be objective, conditions in which research is conducted should be carefully controlled i.e. in a laboratory
such controlled environments are used for observational studies as well as experiments
replicability
one way to demonstrate the validity of any observation, questionnaire or experiment is to repeat it
if the outcome is the same, this verifies the truth of the original results
if the study can be repeated and the outcome is more or less the same, this means the study is replicable
in order to achieve such replication it is important for scientists to record their procedures carefully so someone else can repeat them exactly and verify the original findings
psychologists usually test a different group of people and often use a slightly different task to see if similar behaviour is observed
theory construction
explanations or theories must be constructed to make sense of the facts because facts alone and meaningless
a theory is a collection of general principles that explains observations and facts
such theories can help us understand and predict the natural phenomena around us
scientists use both inductive and deductive methods to develop theories so sometimes a theory comes before hypothesis testing and sometimes it comes after
hypothesis testing
theories are modified through the process of hypothesis testing which is another essential characteristic of science where validity of a theory is tested
a good theory must be able to generate testable expectations which are stated in the form of a hypothesis
if a scientist fails to find support for the hypothesis, then the theory requires modification
falsifiability
falsifiability refers to being able to prove a hypothesis wrong
in any study, is necessary to be able to make a statement/hypothesis that can be proved wrong and is falsifiable
a criticism of some scientific approaches such as Freudian psychoanalysis is that they like lack such falsifiability
explain falsifiability
up until the 1930s, scientists believed that they should find examples that would confirm their theories
but Karl Popper argued that it is not possible to confirm theories, it is only possible to disconfirm them
he used the white swan/black swan example to illustrate this — no matter how many white swans we may observe, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white, the sighting of just one black swan will disprove this theory
what did Karl Popper’s argument lead to?
led to the realisation that the only way to prove a theory to be correct is to to seek falsification
therefore, research should be started with a null hypothesis which we seek to falsify
we then observe which may lead us to reasonably certain that the null hypothesis is false and we can therefore reject the null hypothesis with reasonable certainty
if the null hypothesis isn’t true, this means that the alternative must be true and we can accept it with reasonable certainty
what should we seek to falsify?
research should seek to falsify the null hypothesis
example = if we want to know whether men or women are better map readers, what we do is test whether they are the same in terms of the map reading abilities and seek to falsify the null hypothesis (staying that there is no difference between men and women in terms of map reading abilities)
if the null hypothesis is falsified, this means that the alternative hypothesis must be true so we can accept that instead and reject the null hypothesis
paradigms
according to Thomas Kuhn, a paradigm is “a shared set of assumptions about the subject matter of a discipline and the methods appropriate to its study”
he believed that scientific knowledge develops through revolutions rather than through falsification (theories are refined by a successive series of experiments)
he proposed but there are two main phases in science
the first is called normal science where one theory remains dominant despite occasional challenges from disconfirming studies, gradually the disconfirming evidence accumulates until the theory can no longer be maintained
the second phase is a revolutionary shift which involves the previously dominant theory being overthrown
for example, the dominant and accepted way of measuring attachment is through the strange situation (making it a paradigm)
