Question: Why do you think that a lot of people believe that psychology isn't a science?

Rose Turner answered on 14 Jun 2017:

I think it comes from a lack of understanding about what psychological study involves. Some people think of Psychologists are all bearded men (like Freud!) sitting in dusty old offices and talking to people about their childhood experiences. This does happen in psychology, but it’s not the only thing that happens! Psychology is a fantastic science because it involves a range of research methods, and lots of parts of psychology overlap with other sciences. For example, when you do research in psychology you have opportunities to take physiological measurements (like heart rate, skin conductance [sweating], and tiny changes in muscle movement), to scan people’s brains, to stimulate parts of people’s brains using low levels of electricity), to measure their eye movements, to test their cognitive skills, to observe their behaviours, and much much more! The best psychologists are very rigorous whatever method they use! A lot of psychologists use similar statistical analysis procedures to researchers in other sciences too. 🙂