Toward a richer view of the scientific method: the role of conceptual analysis

Abstract

Within the complex set of activities that comprise the scientific method, three clusters of activities can be recognized: experimentation, mathematization, and conceptual analysis. In psychology, the first two of these clusters are well-known and valued, but the third seems less known and valued. The authors show the value of these three clusters of scientific method activities in the works of the quintessential scientist Galileo Galilei. They then illustrate how conceptual analysis can be used in psychology to clarify the grammar and meaning of concepts, expose conceptual problems in models, reveal unacknowledged assumptions and steps in arguments, and evaluate the consistency of theoretical accounts. The article concludes with a discussion of three criticisms of conceptual analysis.