Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Learn More about the Use of Scientific Method in Psychology

How is scientific method in psychology applied? Psychologists usually explain any human behavior using subjective and anecdotal judgments, but by using scientific method they can explain the cases in an objective and systematic way. You can learn about the definition, characteristics, and steps of scientific method to understand how the researchers come to conclusions about human behavior.


scientific method in psychology

What is Scientific Method?



The scientific method is the process to investigate, acquire, and expand our understanding logically on a problem. In the process, there is a step-by-step process from the beginning until the end. When you put those steps together, you will get a sense of the answer. You should follow the step right from the number one until the end consecutively. If you start from three before two, you will more than likely to get the wrong analytical answer.


Psychological studies are trying to describe, explain, predict, and influence behaviors or mental processes of human. By utilizing the scientific method in psychology, psychologists want to conduct a psychological research in an objective and systematic way. For the result, they are expecting for able to describe and explain why the behaviors occur. Later, it can be used to create research for predicting and changing those behaviors to be in better stage.



Steps of Scientific Method


Step 1. Observation and Form a Hypothesis

First, researchers should begin with choosing a case study or a topic to study. Then, they need to conduct a review of the subject thoroughly based on existing literature. Through this review, researchers can provide valuable information that has been learned and what is the remaining question need to be answered.


After identifying the problem, researchers can formulate a testable hypothesis about the relationship between two or more variables. In this step, researchers should design the experiment using those dependent and independent variables.


Step 2. Performing Experiment and Collecting Data

There are two methods of performing experiment including descriptive and experimental research methods. Experimental methods use a demonstration of casual relationship between variables. Meanwhile descriptive methods include case studies, surveys, and observation that can’t be done through experimental. Once the experiment has been conducted, the researchers need to collect the data.

Step 3. Draw a Conclusion

After the data have been collected, researchers start to analyze and carefully examine the existing information to draw a conclusion supporting their original hypothesis.


Step 4. Reporting the Result

Once the conclusion has been drawn, the last step is sharing and reporting the result to the scientific community. The announced result will help to improve overall knowledge bases and the base for future research.



Using scientific method above, researchers can prove that psychology is also a science that has the same academic standing like biology, physic, chemistry, etc. Therefore, scientific method in psychology has been contributed to analysis several human actions, intentions and motivations on daily basis.
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