Answering the Critics:

X. On the Charge of [Anti-Science]

Critics who deem my attitude and scholarly motive 'unscientific' are remarkably unfamiliar with the philosophy, history, and institution of science. Occasionally, a comment like the following from an unsophisticated mind triggers the question 'Am I talking to the wall?'...

"I know what the scientific method is, but the real issue is, should psychology be held to a different standard than every other science as you suggested it should be? I say no because there is no other method that has been demonsrated to work like the scientific method has worked...not even close."

There is something you need to know about the scientific method. The method itself does not refer to research designs or statistical analyses. Those are technical aspects of science, tools that vary considerably across disciplines and across decades. The scientific method is framed broadly to transcend specific designs and analyses. I never claimed Psychology should be held to a different standard. I always claimed to be an empiricist. And that's all the the scientific method is, a broad affirmation of empiricism, a broad outline for empiricism, a foundation not unlike a nation's Constitution.

Now, within any given academic enterprise, there are conventions which vary in the extent to which they are grounded in science, nature, or mere social necessity, consensus, or convenience. These are known as 'paradigms.' The null hypothesis testing system (NHTS) adopted by psychological researchers has no standing in science. Do not confuse its formal exterior and broad acceptance (i.e., its canonization) with scientific merit, imperative, or fidelity. As ascientific as this convention may be, it is oft-confused with a scientific requirement because it is after all, a mandatory aspect of our business model. Anyone concerned only with his or her own career (i.e., ambition) or with discharging the day-to-day operations (i.e., adaptation), cannot be bothered with this inconsequentual distinction. But having been trained in the system, being outside the system, and having the motivation to opine about this system, I am in an excellent position to discern the contaminating and constraining effects of the paradigmatic norms on the essential aspects of our science. The NHTS is one. Our hybrid Fisher-Pearson method of statistical induction is another one. It was not handed down on Mt. Sinai or dug out of the earth, and it is only one of many possible statistical frameworks that could have been formulated or adopted, but it was a hybrid and compromise meted out in committee after considerable debating among early 20th century psychological researchers seeking ONE STANDARD way of doing things. Then there are logistical constraints that limit or cause us to favor some methodological options over others. While good detectivework involves a confluence of (1) exploratory and confirmatory approaches; (2) descriptive and inferential statistics; (3) idiographic and nomothetic units of analysis; and (4) qualitative and quantitative data sources, 4-6 page limits, which is the average size of a trade publication, combined with an emphasis on the appearance of science over its substance (for purposes of surviving evaluation, surviving an intense competition for jobs, and fitting into a fussy club) has created a culture in which the latter in each pair is embraced at the expense of the former. In a classic Jungian unconscious sabotage, the diminution of the disfavored elements results in a diminishing in the quality of the favored ones. Our 'science' (or what is really a pseudo-scientific paradigm) suffers from a one-sidedness owing to the need to adapt to certain impoverished environments and to the attitudes of those psychological researchers who freely embrace the paradigmatic elements.

In context, science is as much a social enterprise as anything else and as such, it can be limited, varied, and corrupted. 'Too many' critics of psychology like myself apologize for their criticism by referring to Psychology as an 'art' rather than a 'science.' Big mistake. Truthfully and tactically, this is an error. By 'art' they are referring to the free-thinking within science made possible by the latitude and discretion allowed individual scientists by the fairly open framework that is the scientific method. Science itself is not overly prescriptive and proscriptive. It is not fussy or stingy or austere. But institutionalized psychological researchers hijack science for the sake of ideologies and amenities, for:

• their institution's persona. To bask in the reflected glory of a parent institution. To depend on external sources for guidance, validation, and identity

• 'the game,' where there are now clear rules to avoid disqualification and clear goals to embody more efficiently than those with whom you are competing for jobs. A clear path and precription for prevailing.

• general self-preservation and self-aggrandizement

• convenience and expediency. An effortless life within a framework of common expectations designed to facilitate commnication.

fireflySun.com Report List

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