On this page we will explore 10 reasons on why Psychology is a Science.

Psychology is a science because it follows the empirical method. The scientific status of any endeavor is determined by its method of investigation, not what it studies, or when the research was done, and certainly not by who did the investigation. All sciences use the empirical method. Empiricism emphasizes objective and precise measurement. 

Psychology and the other behavioral or social sciences (sociology, anthropology, economics, political science) are not as precise in their measurements as are biology, chemistry or physics, but to the extent that psychologists use empirical evidence, their findings may be referred to as scientific.

List of 10 Reasons why Psychology is a Science

Psychology is regarded as a Science because it fullfills all scientific requirements below:

1. Refers to data being collected through direct observation or experiment.
2. Empirical evidence does not rely on argument or belief.
3. Instead, experiments and observations are carried out carefully and reported in detail so that other investigators can repeat and attempt to verify the work.
4. Researchers should remain totally value free when studying; they should try to remain totally unbiased in their investigations. I.e. Researchers are not influenced by personal feelings and experiences.
5. Objectivity means that all sources of bias are minimized and that personal or subjective ideas are eliminated. The pursuit of science implies that the facts will speak for themselves, even if they turn out to be different from what the investigator hoped.
6. All extraneous variables need to be controlled in order to be able to establish cause (IV) and effect (DV).
7. Tests Hypothesis: E.g. a statement made at the beginning of an investigation that serves as a prediction and is derived from a theory. There are different types of hypotheses (null and alternative), which need to be stated in a form that can be tested (i.e. operationalized and unambiguous).
8. Replication and reliability: whether a particular method and finding can be repeated with different/same people and/or on different occasions, to see if the results are similar.
9. Eliminates bias through scientific methods: If a dramatic discovery is reported, but it cannot be replicated by other scientists it will not be accepted.
10.  Predicts behaviour based on finding: We should be aiming to be able to predict future behavior from the findings of our research.