Читать книгу Methods in Psychological Research - Annabel Ness Evans - Страница 18

Science is a way of acquiring knowledge through the continual interaction of empiricism and reasoning. Observation of real events provides the basis for hypotheses that can be tested in methodical and systematic ways. Hypotheses that are not supported by further empirical evidence are abandoned, and new hypotheses are constructed. In this way, general principles are identified, and predictions can be made. This is the basis of theory building. Hypotheses that have been tested and found to be supported by the available evidence are then encompassed in the body of knowledge of the discipline.

Science has been very successful in helping us understand ourselves and our universe, but it is not without limitations. Scientists don’t have all the answers. Science is always limited by empiricism. If we can’t devise a way to measure something, we can’t use science. Consider the following questions:

Is there a soul?

Is there an afterlife?

Is there a creator?

These questions may be very important, but because science relies on empiricism, we can’t investigate these topics until we have the appropriate measures to do so. Until then, we have only reason, so we leave these topics for philosophers and theologians to explore.