Because if you follow this method it helps prevent you from thinking things what ain't so.
ExplanationAnyone can make a mistake. It is too easy to make assumptions, to believe what you want to believe, to ignore data that conflict with what you think. And as human beings, scientists can be all too guilty of these errors.
The scientific method is a way to prevent these mistakes. It doesn't always work, but it demonstrably has had some successes. So firstly observe phenomena; what is happening? Secondly, ask questions; why is that occurring the way that it is? Thirdly, formulate an hypothesis; this is what I think is happening. Fourthly, develop a testable prediction; if this is true for A, will it be true for B? Fifthly, do experiments to test your prediction; is it true for B, and C, and D? Sixthly, was it true? If yes, then develop an hypothesis by generalization. Seventh (perhaps most importantly!); attempt to falsify your hypothesis. Here, you ask the questions, what experiments could I (and others) do, and what results would I anticipate, that would show my analysis and understanding to be faulty?
If you can do all these things and still have a handle on and an understanding of results, then formulate a theory and book a flight to Stockholm. The scientific method thus relies on experiment; it is not performed in isolation. You may draw a particular conclusion from a set of experimental results, which MAY be different to the conclusion reached by another researcher. Nevertheless, your experimental results, and that of the other researcher, should substantially agree.
The use of the scientific method is one of the main features that separates modern psychology from earlier philosophical inquiries about the mind. Compared to chemistry, physics, and other “natural sciences,” psychology has long been considered one of the “social sciences” because of the subjective nature of the things it seeks to study. Many of the concepts that psychologists are interested in—such as aspects of the human mind, behavior, and emotions—are subjective and cannot be directly measured. Psychologists often rely instead on behavioral observations and self-reported data, which are considered by some to be illegitimate or lacking in methodological rigor. Applying the scientific method to psychology, therefore, helps to standardize the approach to understanding its very different types of information.
The scientific method allows psychological data to be replicated and confirmed in many instances, under different circumstances, and by a variety of researchers. Through replication of experiments, new generations of psychologists can reduce errors and broaden the applicability of theories. It also allows theories to be tested and validated instead of simply being conjectures that could never be verified or falsified. All of this allows psychologists to gain a stronger understanding of how the human mind works.
Scientific articles published in journals and psychology papers written in the style of the American Psychological Association (i.e., in “APA style”) are structured around the scientific method. These papers include an Introduction, which introduces the background information and outlines the hypotheses; a Methods section, which outlines the specifics of how the experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis; a Results section, which includes the statistics that tested the hypothesis and state whether it was supported or not supported, and a Discussion and Conclusion, which state the implications of finding support for, or no support for, the hypothesis. Writing articles and papers that adhere to the scientific method makes it easy for future researchers to repeat the study and attempt to replicate the results.
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