Can Lessons of History and Logical Analysis Ensure Progress in Psychological Science?

Abstract

A cultural view of science adds an important explanatory dimension to the historical account provided by Michell (2003) for the quantitative imperative. It provides an understanding of the rhetoric of paradigm wars as a cultural, sociological phenomenon. The pragmatist view of science further points to the need for evaluating our research praxis so as to determine the relative merits of diverse inquiry approaches in the interest of making improvements. Whether such progress in psychological science would be facilitated by an evolving metamethodological understanding and an awareness of the culture of academic psychology depends on the extent to which the profession will adopt a self-reflective and critical stance.