Читать книгу Methods in Psychological Research - Annabel Ness Evans - Страница 33

A scientist looks for the simplest explanation for a phenomenon. Parsimony means the quality of being sparing or frugal. If two explanations account for similar amounts of data but one explanation requires fewer assumptions, the scientist will favor that explanation. This is not to say that the explanation will be simple. There is nothing simple about the molecular events underlying synaptic transmission or the many factors that might cause a new parolee to reoffend. Parsimony means that few assumptions are made; instead, our explanation must be based on scientific evidence. In general, the scientist looks for the explanation that accounts for the most data with the fewest assumptions.

We have discussed the tenets of science, but what makes a science a science? You may have heard the terms hard and soft science. These terms, which we disapprove of, classify science by its subject matter. Chemistry is considered by some to be a hard science and psychology a soft science. Some people claim that chemistry is a more rigorous science than psychology. Why do they claim this? We think it lies in the variability of the behavior of the subject matter, not in the rigor of the method used. Molecules are less variable in behavior than humans are, but chemistry outside the laboratory can be just as variable as psychology. A discipline is a science if the scientific method is the primary method used in the research process.