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Philosophy or Psychology?
Philosophy 52%  52%  [ 13 ]
Psychology 48%  48%  [ 12 ]
Total votes : 25

visagrunt
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11 Jul 2012, 1:57 pm

enrico_dandolo wrote:
That is very unfair. Even though undeniable truths are harder to reach than in natural sciences (in a large part because of ethical and practical reasons), research in psychology used the same underlying methods as they. Of course, many of the global theories are much less satisfying, even fully unscientific in the case of psychanalysis, but that changes nothing to the value of psychological studies and research.


I never said that psychological studies and research were not valuable--I said that there were some who argue that they are not scientific. The two are not equivalent.

I believe that psychology belongs firmly in the social sciences, along with economics, geography and similar disciplines. They are valuable, but they are fundamentally different from the natural sciences.


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11 Jul 2012, 3:46 pm

Different, yes, but only about the object of their study (and their youth), not for methodological reasons -- and science is, in principle, a question of methodology.



visagrunt
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11 Jul 2012, 4:22 pm

enrico_dandolo wrote:
Different, yes, but only about the object of their study (and their youth), not for methodological reasons -- and science is, in principle, a question of methodology.


No, most assuredly for their methodologies. The social sciences rely far more readily on extrapolation, using statistical techniques to create reliable inferences. All of them readily accept outliers as exceptions that are not inconsistent with theories of general application. In contrast, the natural sciences' methodology cannot tolerate outliers unless they can be explained by observational or experimental error.

Unless the social sciences adopt a methodology of disproof by exception, they cannot claim methodological parity with the natural sciences.


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14 Jul 2012, 7:59 pm

Actually not as a major, but more as a tool for personal growth.

BTW, I am actually going into economics, since there is more jobs for it.



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15 Jul 2012, 5:20 am

visagrunt wrote:
enrico_dandolo wrote:
Different, yes, but only about the object of their study (and their youth), not for methodological reasons -- and science is, in principle, a question of methodology.


No, most assuredly for their methodologies. The social sciences rely far more readily on extrapolation, using statistical techniques to create reliable inferences. All of them readily accept outliers as exceptions that are not inconsistent with theories of general application. In contrast, the natural sciences' methodology cannot tolerate outliers unless they can be explained by observational or experimental error.

I admit "methodology" was a wrong choice of word on my part. I don't know what term to use, so I will coin it as "epistemic process".

The fact is that natural science and social sciences follow the same basic processes of hypothesis testing and the same assumption of empiricism and impartiality. In this, the main difference is, as I have said, the object which they analyze. Working with bacteria or subatomic particles is not the same as with human beings or economic systems, for both practical and ethical reasons. Yet, it is done with the same spirit, proceeds of the same fundamental principles. The methodological consequences are obvious, but in the same way, there are methodological differences between "hard" sciences themselves, which also arise from the differences of the object they analyze.



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15 Jul 2012, 5:25 am

Psychology (for me) comes across as more concrete, making it easier to understand and explain to others (again, this is just me). I am also a more scientific person, and psychopathology is probably my greatest special interest.


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