Features of Science Flashcards
What is science?
A system of acquiring knowledge through a process known as the scientific method
What are the three parts to the scientific method?
Observation and description of a phenomenon
Formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon
Performance of experimental tests of the predictions
What is the key feature of a science?
The use of empirical methods of observation and investigations rather than the use of thoughts and beliefs
Define the scientific process?
A means of acquiring knowledge based on observable, measurable evidence
What are fundamental concepts of the scientific process?
Replicability - being able to repeat a study to check the validity of the results
Objectivity - observations are made without bias
Falsifiability - the scientific statements are capable of being proven wrong through experimentation
What set phases does the scientific method operate in a cycle with?
1) Inductive phase - observations yield information that is used to formulate theories as explanations
2) Deductive phase - predictions made from theories, in the form of testable hypothesis are tested and yield data that is analysed leading to theory adjustment
Following this, it becomes possible to generate laws and scientific processes
What is the most empirically based research method in psychology?
Lab experiment which allowed causality to be established
However, psychology is often viewed as a soft science because it tries to use the deterministic and reductionist principles of science but due to subjective subject matter, research cant be carried out with the same rigorous vigour
What is a paradigm shift?
A revolutionary change in scientific assumptions.
Very occasionally, a paradigm is replaced with a new paradigm, often emerging from a minority position e.g. Einstein’s theories about the nature of the universe replacing what Newton claimed before him
What did Kuhn argue?
That scientists aren’t as objective as they claim to be - they operate within a paradigm (a particular scientific framework) and collect data that fits this paradigm. This creates a type of bias whereby scientists attempt to find examples that confirm their hypothesis rather than being open to what the data suggests which may involve the falsification of their ideas
He therefore argued that science is marked by its operation within paradigms, marked occasionally by paradigmal shifts
What do some argue about psychology?
That it is not a science because there is not one accepted paradigm
There are a number of operational paradigms within science such as behaviourism, humanism and psychodynamic psychology
