Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology
Title: Is Psychology a science? Has it ever been a science? Discuss, with reference to both historical and contemporary evidence.
Guidance: Type of assessment/structure;
This assessment is a position statement. Look at both sides of the issue/evidence but a position statement takes one position not two. This paper will argue that modern psychology cannot be considered a hard science but it is still a science.
The position statement should be evidence-based, therefore it is important to support this view with academic evidence (i.e. from peer-reviewed journal articles).
The position statement should have an introduction, main body, and conclusion.
Some content to include:
Philosophy of science
Definition of science; scientific mind, scientific method, knowledge systems in science, science as a rhetorical label.
Discuss where psychology fits within this paradigm.
Explore qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Reproducibility & open science; where does psychology fit into this?
Replication crisis.
Argue that psychology has a scientific mindset, uses scientific methods and can be critically evaluated by rigorous scientific methods.
– Arnett, J., 2008. The neglected 95%: Why American psychology needs to become less American. American Psychologist, 63(7), pp.602-614.
