Scientific Method & Process

Question 1

The only protection against charlatans and pseudoscience is…

Answer 1

An understanding of the goals of science and having a permanently sceptical mind.

Question 2

The Major Features of Science

Answer 2

We are exposed to different types of explanations of events and phenomena on a daily basis but it can be difficult to separate the scientific from the non-scientific explanations.

Question 3

What is science?

Answer 3

Science is a means of gaining knowledge.

Question 4

What does science aim?

Answer 4

Science aims to uncover facts that can be relied on.

Question 5

How do scientists uncover ‘truths’ about the world?

Answer 5

Scientists use the scientific method.

Question 6

What are the key features of the scientific method?

Answer 6

1. Empiricism
2. Objectivity
3. Replicability
4. Rationality
5. Control
6. Theory construction

Question 7

Empiricism

Answer 7

Information that is gained through direct observation or experiment rather than by reasoned arguments or beliefs.

Question 8

Objectivity

Answer 8

Scientists strive to be objective in their observations and measurements thus their expectations should not affect what they record.

Question 9

Replicability

Answer 9

In order to achieve replication, it is important for scientists to record their methods carefully so that the same procedure can be followed in the future. Replicating an observation or experiment demonstrates its validity, if the outcome is the same.

Question 10

Rationality

Answer 10

Scientific explanations have to be consistent with known facts and have to follow the rules of logic; they need to be based on reason.

Question 11

Control

Answer 11

In order to demonstrate causal relationships, scientists control conditions in experiments.

Question 12

Theory construction

Answer 12

The aim of science is not only to collect facts but to use these facts to construct theories. A theory is a collection of general principles that explain the facts.

Question 13

The scientific process

Answer 13

A ‘good’ theory is one that can be empirically tested. Unless you can test a theory, there is no means of knowing if it is right or wrong.
A good theory should therefore produce a variety of testable hypotheses, thus allowing falsification.

Question 14

The scientific process/method diagram - Induction and Deduction

Answer 14

Theory construction may occur at the beginning or end of the process.

(Refer to the diagram in the booklet)

Question 15

What does the scientific process start with?

Answer 15

The scientific process starts with observations of phenomena in the world.

Question 16

Inductive model

Answer 16

In the inductive model, this leads science to develop testable hypotheses. Hypotheses are tested, possibly leading to new questions and new hypotheses. Eventually such data may be used to construct a theory.

Before the twentieth century, science largely used the principles of induction - making discovering about the world through accurate observations, and formulating theories based on the regularities observed.

Question 17

Deductive model

Answer 17

The deductive model placed theory construction at the beginning, after making observations. Deduction involved starting with a theory and looking for instances that confirm this. The hypothetico-deductive model was proposed by Karl Popper (1953), suggesting that theories/laws about the world should come first and these should be used to generate expectations/hypotheses which can be falsified. Falsification is the only way to be certain.

Question 18

What did Karl Popper suggest?

Answer 18

According to Popper, falsifiability is the key element in the development of a theory. A theory can never be proved but it can be disproved. Researchers should try to disprove the theory and if they can’t, the theory is strengthened. If they can, the theory should be modified or replaced by a better one. This is how science progresses.

Question 19

What did Thomas Kuhn suggest?

Answer 19

Thomas Kuhn (1962) on the other hand, suggested that scientists share a set of ideas and assumptions about their discipline (paradigm). They tend to agree with findings that support this paradigm and ignore those that contradict it; he calls this ‘normal science’. If more contradictive evidence appears, some scientists begin to question the existing paradigm and eventually this is replaced by the new one through, what he calls, a ‘scientific revolution’ which is also known as a ‘paradigm shift’.

Question 20

‘Psychology could/should claim to be a science’ - For

Answer 20

1. Psychology shares the goals of all sciences; progress based on factual knowledge.
2. The methods are ‘scientific’ insofar as they aim to be valid. For example, data can be collected and then triangulated - the findings from different methods are compared with each other as a means of verifying them.
3. Uses the scientific method including its key features: empiricism, objectivity, replicability, rationality, control and theory construction.
4. Most psychologists generate models which can be falsified. Psychologists seek to produce verifiable knowledge.

Question 21

‘Psychology could/should claim to be a science’ - Against

Answer 21

1. It is claimed that human behaviour can be measured objectively (objectivity is a key goal of science). However, in psychology, the objects of a study (human) reacts to the researcher and this leads to experimenter bias, demand characteristics, social desirability, etc. which compromise validity.
2. Quantifying measurements and using statistical analysis does not turn psychology into a science. You shouldn’t study people in the same way as physical phenomena (statistically significant but humanly insignificant). The quality of the data is as important as the quantity.
3. Psychology shouldn’t be a science because, unlike other sciences, there is no single paradigm. Psychology has a number of paradigms or approaches - cognitive, physiological, behaviourist, evolutionary, psychoanalytic and so on. One approach is not sufficient to explain human behaviour.
4. The scientific approach is reductionist and determinist because complex phenomena are reduced to simple variables in order to study the causal relationships between them. However, ‘the whole is more than the sum of its parts’. Perhaps the goals of science are not always appropriate in psychology.