Psychology Follows the Scientific Method and Is Therefore Considered as a Science. Discuss
Question : Psychology follows the scientific method and is therefore considered as a science. Discuss Psychology is a science and therefore it follows the scientific method. The scientific method is a standardized way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing predictions and interpreting results. This scientific method employs a set of rules that apply to a form of research that identifies cause and effect relations. This research is called an experiment and it consists of five steps.
They are identifying the problem, designing the experiment, performing the experiment, evaluating the hypothesis and finally communicating the result. To identify the problem, one has to formulate the hypothetical cause and effect in relations among variables. This step involves identifying variables, behaviours and particular environmental and physiological events. Experiments involve the manipulation of independent variables and the observation of dependent variables.
Each variable must be operationally defined and the independent variable must be controlled so that no other variable is responsible for changes in the dependent variable, this procedure designs your experiment. To perform the experiment, the researcher must organize the material to perform the experiment from the people who must perform the research. Recruit volunteers whose behavior would be observed and randomly assigned each of these volunteers to an experimental group. The experiment is performed and observations recorded.
The hypothesis is evaluated by examining the data from the study to determine whether the results support the hypothesis or whether they suggest that it is wrong. Finally the results are communicated to the experimenters who have learned something about causes of behavior in research. Psychology is a science because it uses the scientific method. Psychology follows rules and science follows rules. Psychology is a science that follows rules, therefore it follows general rules and collects empirical evidence.
Psychology has an objective approach to its findings and not a subjective one. When science discovers something the world becomes aware of it; that information becomes public. It becomes public because it is now printed information. When compared to psychology, information is productive and also psychological data is published. Psychology is seen as a science mainly by those who study the subject but normal people and scientists do not see it as being a science. Let us for example consider the psychological approach “collects objective evidence”.
The scientist approach would be “measures heat given off by a reaction, weights product of reaction,” but the psychological approach would be “records subject behavior : number of words written down on a memory test, ratings made in judgement task, personality test responses, reaction times and other things” Normally people perceive science as happening in a laboratory doing experiments and discovering evidence by being creative asking questions to pry answers out of nature, but psychologically, cleverness is measured through psychological concepts, generating hypotheses and devising studies that rule out alternative explanations for findings. Psychology is theory, much like psychiatry. It is not LAB tests that are done, it is just observation and opinion. It is and always will be in the pre-science phase. Criticisms of psychological research often come from perception that it is a “soft” science.
Philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn (1962) critiqued and implied that psychology was in a paradigm state, lacking the agreement on overarching theory found in mature sciences such as chemistry and physics. Due to some areas of psychology being reliant on research methods such as surveys and questionnaires, critics have asserted that psychology is not an objective science. Other phenomena that psychologists are interested in such as personality, thinking and emotion cannot be directly measured and are often inferred from subjective self-reports which may be problematic. I am of the opinion that psychology bears it roots in both the scientific method and the psychological approach.
Psychology is a science that seeks to answer all sorts of questions about us all, how and why we think, feel and act the way we do. Have you ever wondered what leads to school and work success? Are some people just born smarter? Does sheer intelligence explain why some people get richer, think more creatively or relate more sensitively? I stand firmly to the belief that with all the levels of analysis and related perspectives from biological to psychological to socio-cultural for analyzing any given phenomenon, psychology would remain a fast developing perspective in our fast developing world. Bibliography Psychology – David Myers (9th Edition) {Library} www. google. com – psychology as a science
