Psychology as a science

Question 1

What is this debate about?

Answer 1

Whether psychology is a science and if research should be conducted to follow guidelines of scientific research

Question 2

What makes something a science?

Answer 2

It is:
Objective
Replicable
Falsifiable

Question 3

Objective

Answer 3

The results are a matter of fact and not opinion of researcher’s own interpretations

Question 4

Replicable

Answer 4

If the research can be repeated using different participants in a different place to find the same thing (if it’s consistent and reliable)

Question 5

Falsifiable

Answer 5

If the research is able to be tested to be proven wrong

Question 6

What does the scientific method involve?

Answer 6

Study of cause and effect, induction or deduction, manipulation of variables, controls, hypothesis testing, quantifiable measurements

Question 7

Drawbacks of psychology being scientific

Answer 7

May lack collecting qualitative data to inform later research
Reductionist due to cause and effect: isolating one variable does not reflect real life
Low ecological validity as this uses highly controlled experiments which is not accurate to irl

Question 8

Benefits of psychology being scientific

Answer 8

Highly standardised and controlled experiments due to isolation of variables so high validity and reliability
Quantitative data is collected which is easy to analyse
Objective so not vulnerable to researcher bias