The Ongoing Debate

• Positivism in Psychology: Traditional view supporting quantitative methods, treating human behavior as stable, measurable facts.
• Qualitative Shift: A focus on dynamic, ever-changing aspects of human behavior, challenging the idea of fixed patterns, and possibly facts!
• Source: @parker2011

The Role of Qualitative Research

• Qualitative vs. Quantitative: The debate isn’t about the validity of quantification but the quality of its application in psychology.
• Where is Psychology’s non-stick frying pan? [@banyard2015]
• Advancing Scientific Debate: Qualitative research is at the forefront of discussions about the nature of scientific inquiry in psychology.
• Source: [@parker2004]

Paradigm Shifts

• Thomas Kuhn’s Theory: Science progresses through paradigm shifts rather than linear accumulation of knowledge.

• Application in Psychology: Shifts from behaviorism to cognitive psychology, and then to more integrated approaches.

Implications for Psychological Research

• Changing Research Methods: Embracing diverse methodologies reflecting evolving paradigms in psychology.
• Interdisciplinary Influence: Incorporating insights from philosophy, sociology, and neuroscience into psychological research.

Psychology as a ‘Soft Science’

• Psychology compared to pre-scientific stages of sciences
• The debate over applying ‘the scientific method’ in psychology
• The importance of being phenomenon-centered and problem-centered
• Misalignment of methods with research questions

@uher2021

Psychology and Science

• Dynamic and Evolving: Psychology, like other sciences, undergoes paradigm shifts and methodological evolution.
• Beyond Traditional Boundaries: The discipline is increasingly recognizing the value of qualitative, subjective, and diverse approaches to understanding the human mind and behavior.

The Principle of Falsification

• Karl Popper’s Contribution: Emphasized the importance of falsifiability in scientific theories.
• Falsification vs. Verification: Popper argued that scientific theories can never be completely verified, but they can be falsified.
• Impact on Psychology: Encourages rigorous testing of hypotheses and openness to disconfirming evidence in psychological research.

Critiques and Legacy

• Practical Challenges: Difficulties in applying falsification principle in complex fields like psychology.
• Enduring Influence: Popper’s ideas continue to influence scientific methodology and philosophical discussions in psychology.

Epistemology

• Definition: The study of knowledge – its nature, origin, and limits.
• Relevance to Psychology: Helps in understanding how we acquire knowledge about human behavior and mental processes.
• How do we know what we know, or get to know something new?

Ideographic Approach

• Focus: Emphasizes the unique aspects of individual cases or phenomena.
• Methodology: Often uses qualitative methods, such as case studies, to explore complex, subjective experiences.
• Goal: To understand the depth and complexity of individual experiences.

Nomothetic Approach

• Focus: Seeks to identify general laws and patterns that apply across multiple cases.
• Methodology: Employs quantitative methods, like experiments and surveys, to gather data on larger populations.
• Goal: To formulate generalizations and broad theories applicable to many.

Balancing Perspectives

• Integrating Approaches: Both ideographic and nomothetic methods offer valuable insights; combining them can lead to a more holistic understanding of psychological phenomena.
• Challenges in Quantitative Research: The need to acknowledge and address the reflexive capacity of human beings and the meaningful nature of data from aggregated descriptions of behavior.
• Innovative Research Possibilities: Opportunities for innovative research that addresses these challenges, respecting the particularities of individual cases within broader patterns.
• [@robinson2012a]

The Esteem of Science

• Science’s high regard in society and academia
• The assumption that the scientific method leads to reliable results
• The challenge in defining ‘scientific method’ and its transferability

Conclusion: Rethinking Scientific Method in Psychology

• Recognizing the influence of subjective experiences on observation
• Understanding the interplay between facts, theory, and conceptual frameworks
• The challenge of applying a rigid scientific method to human behavior and experiences

Abstract

• Psychology’s struggle with foundational concepts: mind and behavior
• Lack of unified theoretical framework
• Classification as a ‘soft science’
• Need for diverse methodologies and systematic integration
• Galtonian nomothetic methodology’s limitations

[Uher, 2020]

Lack of Proper Terms and Definitions

• Discordant and ambiguous definitions in psychology
• Overlap between psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy
• Proliferation of terms and constructs
• Deeply fragmented theoretical landscape

[Uher, 2020]

Lack of Conceptual Integration

• Diversity of epistemologies, paradigms, and methodologies
• Absence of a unified theory in psychology
• Challenges with evolutionary psychology as an integrative framework
• Speculative nature of evolutionary explorations in psychology

[Uher, 2020]

Psychology as a ‘Soft Science’

• Psychology compared to pre-scientific stages of sciences
• The debate over applying ‘the scientific method’ in psychology
• The importance of being phenomenon-centered and problem-centered
• Misalignment of methods with research questions

[Uher, 2020]

Experience in Psychology

• The dual aspects of experience: objective content and subjective apprehension
• Contrast between natural sciences and psychological approaches
• Psychology’s focus on immediate subjective experience
• The role of agency, volition, value orientation, and teleology

[Uher, 2020]

Constructs in Science and Everyday Psychology

• Challenges posed by the transient nature of experience
• The interplay of constructs with everyday knowledge and language
• The entification of constructs and overlooking their constructed nature
• Differentiation between psychical and psychological phenomena

[Uher, 2020]

Psychology’s Exceptional Position

• Psychology at the intersection of sciences and philosophy
• Exploration of diverse phenomena across human life
• Requirement for a plurality of methodologies and epistemologies
• Psychology as a non-unitary science due to its wide-ranging study phenomena

[Uher, 2020]

Idiographic and Nomothetic Strategies

• The uniqueness of immediate experience
• The use of idiographic strategies for exploring individual cases
• Limitations of Galtonian nomothetic methodology
• The impact of natural-science principles on psychological research

[Uher, 2020]

Moving Beyond Conceptual Deadlock

• Introduction of the Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm (TPS-Paradigm)
• Aiming for critical reflection and development of new theories
• Integration of concepts from various disciplines
• Focus on the individual as the central unit of analysis

[Uher, 2020]

Philosophical Framework of the TPS-Paradigm

• Three sets of presuppositions about research on individuals
• Human limitations in perception and conceptualization
• Concept of individuals as complex, open, and nested systems
• Application of complementarity in methodology

[Uher, 2020]

Metatheoretical Framework

• Formalization of phenomena’s accessibility to human perception
• Differentiation of various kinds of phenomena related to individuals
• Integration and development of concepts across fields
• Exploration of psychical phenomena and their connections

[Uher, 2020]

Methodological Framework

• Concepts for matching methodology with phenomena
• Development of methods for comparing individuals
• Analysis of data generation and measurement practices
• Application of metrological principles in psychological research

[Uher, 2020]

References

Research Methods Lecture 13 - Philosophy of Science