Is Psychology a Science?

Question 1

What makes science special?

Answer 1

Empirical foundations - based on observations of natural world
The scientific method - use of specific methods of observation
Doing science - follow scientific method to infer theories that explain the behaviour of the natural world
Scientific values - accepted criterion for deciding between theories

Question 2

What did Descartes say that science should be based on?

Answer 2

‘Certain’ knowledge - derived on basis of precise procedures to justify scientific laws

Question 3

What is the empiricist view of science?

Answer 3

Scientific knowledge is special because it depends on systematic observation and measurement from which theories follow

Question 4

Which method did Newton say scientists should use to justify their theories?

Answer 4

Inductive method

Question 5

Who pointed a problem with using the inductive method and what ws it?

Answer 5

Hume - even if initial statements true - no guarantee that conclusion is true

Question 6

What did John Stuart Mill propose to solve the problem of induction?

Answer 6

Coherentism:
Doubt should apply to each claim rather than general problem
Quality of inductions depends on how they cohere with current and future inductions

Question 7

What are Popper’s views of induction?

Answer 7

1934 - no issue of induction:
Make conditional statements which may be true
Identify true conjectures through falsification
Falsification is purely deductive
One contrary observation is sufficient to disconfirm a theory

Question 8

Problems with falsification

Answer 8

How many disconfirming instances are enough to reject a theory
Problem of theory-dependence of an observation

Question 9

What does the scientific method assume about facts?

Answer 9

Facts can be known independently from theories

Theories are tested against facts

Question 10

What is the problem of theory-dependence of observations?

Answer 10

Facts are theoretically constructed - any disconfirmation could be problem of observations not the theoretical claim
Could reject a theory because don’t have evidence at the time

Question 11

What did Kuhn (1962) say about paradigms?

Answer 11

Science is a network of statements called a paradigm
‘Normal science’ is the development of knowledge within a paradigm
‘Crisis’ occurs when anomalies arise which cannot be explained by the current paradigm
Leads to a paradigm shift or revolution as old paradigm fades away to be replaced by a new paradigm

Question 12

What did Feyerabudn say about Kuhn’s paradigms?

Answer 12

Solving puzzles is not the main aim of science
Science is the development of overarching, general theories
Science sometimes involves the active, complicit development of rival theories which can challenge and improve current theories
A single paradigm is not necessary - many can co-exist

Question 13

What did Kuhn and Popper believe about core and auxiliary hypotheses - Worrall 2003?

Answer 13

Kuhn believed that experiments should be designed assuming core ideas so that falsification targets auxiliary hypotheses
Popper believed that experiments should be targeted at core rather than auxiliary hypotheses

Question 14

How did Kuhn and Popper disagree?

Answer 14

Kuhn: scientists tend to believe the core theory
Popper: scientists know their theories are conjectures
Kuhn: hold core theories as sacred but collapse under weight of evidece built up during puzzle solving period
Popper: scientists attempt to falsify their theories

Question 15

What is positivism?

Answer 15

Founded by Auguste Comte
A system which confines itself to data of experience - a posteriori
Essentially empiricim taken to its extreme

Question 16

What did Popper and Kuhn believe about positivism?

Answer 16

Positivist representation of science is naive and does not accurately reflect the conduct of science

Question 17

What were Lakatos’ criticisms of Popper?

Answer 17

Normative nature of science should be tested to see if its falsifiable
Naive falsificationism - should treat theory as refuted whenever it seems to be contradicted by experience - single instance enough to falsify claim
Falsificationists talk as if just one theory tested but scientists don’t abandon theory until something better comes along

Question 18

Who combined Popper and Kuhn’s ideas and how?

Answer 18

Lakatos - falsification within research programmes:
Hard core/basic assumptions of the programme and auxiliary hypotheses
Negative heuristic tries to solve problems by directing attention towards auxiliary hypotheses
Positive heuristic directs attention to anomalies that seem to offer solutions that are consistent with the hard core
Falsification of hard core takes place when new theory available

Question 19

What is post-positivism?

Answer 19

More accurately represents conduct of science than positivism and is ore relective of its historical progression
- Knowledge is reconstructive rather than accumulative - new pieces of info can alter previous ones rather than just add
- Knowledge is not fixed in time
- Different research programmes can have different claims to knowledge
Science cannot establish objective universal truths, although it aims to tend towards them

Question 20

What are Kuhnian values?

Answer 20

Scientists apply a set of values with which to judge knowledge:
A theory should ‘order phenomena that in its absence would be isolated and confused’
A theory should be internally consistent
A theory should be consistent with other currently accepted theories
The consequences deducible from a theory should agree with current evidence and extend beyond the particular observations, laws or subtheories it was designed to explain
A theory should be fruitful of new research findings

Question 21

Who is Merton?

Answer 21

A sociologist who reflected on the sociology of science and is most well known for his account of scientific values

Question 22

What were Merton’s (1973) scientific values?

Answer 22

Universalism - ideas should be evaluated according to impersonal criteria that are universlly agreed within the scientific community
Communalism - knowledge should be regarded as a common heritage and shared freely within the scientific community
Disinterestedness - scientists should not seek to gain for themselves through questionble means or support vested interests
Scepticism - scientists should not be credulous, jump to conclusions, but weigh evidence in a considered manner

Question 23

Are Scientists Mertonian?

Answer 23

Mitzroff 1974:
- Scientists find ways to restrict what information they consider as relevant by considering ‘well known’ practitioners as more reliable – not universalists
- Scientists promote their own ideas to their own advantage – not disinterested
Mulkay 1976:
- Scientists adopt practices that defend their independence and relative freedom from external scrutiny – not communal/sceptic

Question 24

Variability in Applying Scientific Values

Answer 24

Mulkay & Gilbert 1984:
- Scientists often depict theory choice as individual to themselves and not by some accepted values
- Scientists do not always agree what a particular experiment actually means
Gilbert & Mulkay 1982:
- Advocates of particular theories recurrently claimed that their beliefs were supported by the evidence whilst others’ conclusions were impaired by psychological or cultural distortions

Question 25

Existence of natural vs social objects

Answer 25

Objects of natural inquiry (physical) are external to us and exist independently of our knowledge of them
Objects of social inquiry are the actions of human beings and actors ascribe meaning to their actions which are integral to how and why they act - social objects are preinterpreted as they are brought into being by those meanings

Question 26

Behaviour of natural vs social objects

Answer 26

Behaviour of natural objects is continous - follow regularities and are predictable
The behaviour of social objects is discontinuous - actors could have done otherwise

Question 27

What is interpretivism?

Answer 27

An epistemology of the social sciences which believes that:
- Human behaviour is more than just reactions to external forces
- Indiviiduals are intricate and complex
- Different people can experience the same reality in different ways and have different reasons for their actions
Aims to understand meaning of human actions

Question 28

What is constructivism?

Answer 28

Epistemology of the social sciences:
- Human knowledge and behaviour is constructed through interaction with others - so are the meanings of actions
- Meanings of actions are temporally and spatially situated
- Social objects only make sense relative to the meaning we assigned them
Knowledge is constructed rather than created
Interested in everyday interactions between people and how they use language to construct their reality

Question 29

What is feminism?

Answer 29

Epistemology which believes:
- Ethical and political vaues shape the creation and interpretation of knowledge
- Knowledge is spatially and temporally located
- Knowledge producers are not passive recipients, they actively construct meaning and knowledge
Seek to give voice to those who have been left behind and misrepresented in social research
Concerned with tackling oppresion in society - gender, class, culture, and ethnicity

Question 30

Methods of post-positivist epistemologies

Answer 30

Methods of natural sciences
Experiments and surveys analysed via statistics - quantitative methods
Focuses of describing and explaining phenomena

Question 31

Methods of social science epistemologies

Answer 31

Use qualitative methods

• Interviews and focus groups
• Ethnography and participant observation
• Interpreting and understanding phenomena