Features of psychology as a scientific discipline and difficulties in writing philosophy paper
Psychology in itself is a science of complex and ambiguous. Take into account at least the fact that even a clear and unanimously accepted definition of the very subject of studying psychology – human psychology – is still not there. This detail finds its reflection in vivid and very different styles of psychologists, a lot of contradictory methods and ubiquitous opportunities for discussions and scientific disputes.
Moreover, psychological studies themselves are often subjective. The researcher is forced to address not only the theory, but also his own point of view on certain aspects of the human psyche. Even doctors of sciences agree that psychological research and self-knowledge of the researcher-psychologist have a close relationship. It’s no wonder that even the very necessity of writing philosophy paper often leads students into a stupor.
Nevertheless, the observance of certain rules will help to write the course as quickly as possible, and also to overcome the main difficulties arising in the research process. As practice shows, if writing a course according to the plan, clearly adhering to a certain structure, work on the first scientific work will go much easier.
The structure of writing philosophy paper
In the most general form, the structure of course work on psychology is as follows:
- Introduction;
- The main part (theoretical and practical sections);
- Conclusion;
- List of used literature;
- Annexes.
In the case of philosophy paper, it is especially important to write the introduction correctly, which is almost the most difficult part of the whole work.
The main difficulty consists in the competent specification of 5 fundamentally important parameters:
- the object and the subject of the research;
- relevance of the research topic;
- the main purpose of the work;
- tasks assigned to achieve the goal of the work;
- working hypotheses.
The urgency of the work is determined by the level of its study at the moment and the need for further study from the point of view of the development of psychology as a science. For example, works on old theories of personality are not relevant today – there is a sense in detailed studies of the newest theories, especially if they have not been sufficiently studied.
The goal of any philosophy paper is the study of the subject of research. The goal can only be one and it must be formulated with the words “reveal”, “explore,” “study,” “develop,” etc. The single goal of the work is specified through specific tasks – as a rule, their number does not exceed five.
To fulfill all the tasks set and to achieve the research objective, a working hypothesis is used – the basic assumption, whose fidelity and capacity is verified during the research.
The very course of the study is described in the main part of the course work, which must necessarily include 2 chapters:
- a theoretical review of the literature on this topic;
- research part.
Particularly important for course work on psychology is the research part. Psychological studies are most often performed using the basic method – a scientific experiment that involves special trainings, interviews and tests among the subjects.
The results of the psychological experiment conducted by the student are described in the conclusion, which sums up the results of the entire study. In conclusion, it is finally determined whether the initial working hypothesis has been confirmed (verified).
Annexes often by volume may even exceed the bulk of the course work. After all, the specificity of psychological research involves the use of special tables and graphs, as well as questionnaires, which are necessarily placed in the annexes to the course. In addition, the student who conducted the surveys should provide in the applications a questionnaire of all subjects.
The objectives of the philosophy paper work are:
- expansion and deepening of theoretical knowledge of students in fundamental and practice-oriented branches of psychology;
- mastering the methodology of psychological research;
- acquisition of independent literary search skills in solving specific research problems;
- improving the skills of generalization of theoretical and empirical data;
- improving the skills of correct processing and interpretation of psychodiagnostic material;
- applying the system of theoretical knowledge obtained in the practice of solving specific psychological problems;
In philosophy paper, a student should show:
- an understanding of the logic of psychological research;
- ability to navigate in modern scientific concepts;
- the ability to analyze and generalize literary sources, formulate conclusions and assumptions;
- the ability to independently set and solve research and practical tasks;
- skills of quantitative and qualitative processing of empirical material.
