The difficult relationship between theory, practice and methodology in twenty-first century psychology. (II) A methodological proposal

Abstract

Specialist research in psychology has typically applied the experimental methodology known as “experiment design", and defined as “the scientific method". In this study we proceed in the opposite direction: reviewing the charac-teristics of experimental research in the most developed disciplines, and basing ourselves on theoretical and argumental developments of certain modern philosophies of science, we propose an open and rigorous methodology which can in all probability be extended to other areas of scientific research and specialized investigation in behavioural sciences, in both its scientific-technical and practical aspects. But in order to use this methodology, we must give up certain habits and learn others, and above all we must proceed slowly but surely, because immediate solutions are rare. Key words: Psychological methodology, theory, practice, quantification, experiments.