psychology as a science
Is psychology a science?
Psychology being categorised under the name science, can often lead to disputes within the field of sciences. Psychology is the observation of behaviour and thought process of the human mind, within itself it is a vital source of knowledge, such as how biology, chemistry and physics provides a source of knowledge that is vital to humans and the environment. Science can be seen as the study of natural behaviours and physical aspects of the world, this definition within itself accompanies itself with the idea that psychology is a science, as behaviours are studied within the field of psychology. Eysenck and Keane (2000) believed that to make something a science it must have the following features, controlled observation, in which a specific manipulation is observed to see the effects. Secondly objectivity, as when data has been collected objectively it reduces the possibility of bias, thirdly testing theoretical predictions, because if a theory is not tested there is no evidence to provide if it is right or wrong. Fourthly is falsifiability, which means the scientific theory has the potential to be proved wrong by evidence, fifthly is the unifying theory which is every subject within the sciences has a unifying approach all theories are based off. Finally there is the fact of is any research conducted replicable, as it is hard to rely on studies that could provide inconsistent findings. Although providing clear guidelines on what makes a science, there are still some aspects which make the divide not as clear as believed. For example psychology uses the scientific method in some of the studies conducted, which is used throughout science for all research, so this aspect can be seen to make psychology a science. Too many the field of psychology is classed as a science; the science of the mind, as it looks at the most complex thing on Earth, the
Psychology being categorised under the name science, can often lead to disputes within the field of sciences. Psychology is the observation of behaviour and thought process of the human mind, within itself it is a vital source of knowledge, such as how biology, chemistry and physics provides a source of knowledge that is vital to humans and the environment. Science can be seen as the study of natural behaviours and physical aspects of the world, this definition within itself accompanies itself with the idea that psychology is a science, as behaviours are studied within the field of psychology. Eysenck and Keane (2000) believed that to make something a science it must have the following features, controlled observation, in which a specific manipulation is observed to see the effects. Secondly objectivity, as when data has been collected objectively it reduces the possibility of bias, thirdly testing theoretical predictions, because if a theory is not tested there is no evidence to provide if it is right or wrong. Fourthly is falsifiability, which means the scientific theory has the potential to be proved wrong by evidence, fifthly is the unifying theory which is every subject within the sciences has a unifying approach all theories are based off. Finally there is the fact of is any research conducted replicable, as it is hard to rely on studies that could provide inconsistent findings. Although providing clear guidelines on what makes a science, there are still some aspects which make the divide not as clear as believed. For example psychology uses the scientific method in some of the studies conducted, which is used throughout science for all research, so this aspect can be seen to make psychology a science. Too many the field of psychology is classed as a science; the science of the mind, as it looks at the most complex thing on Earth, the