Annotated Bibliography: The Author's Major Argument

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 - 4
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Annotated Bibliography 1 - 4
Lilienfeld, S. O. (2012). Public Skepticism of Psychology. Why Many People Perceive The Study of Human Behavior as Unscientific. Emory University. Journal of the American Psychological Association, Vol. 67, No. 2, 111–129.
The author’s concern in this article is the skepticism the psychology practice is getting from the public. The paper generally tries to identify key areas that skeptics address in psychology, the truth behind it and offers recommendations concerning what needs to be changed. The author uses examples of critics of psychology, including those from the same field, to bring out the seriousness of the underlying matter. The author hypothesized the negative view the public is having towards psychology as a scientific field and its effectiveness in solving social problems. The given evidences towards the problem include failure by police using psychology to solve problems; some problems traditionally relying on psychology being solved using other methods, failure of psychology to help cure diseases, and the unscientific methods psychology uses in addressing problems.
The author of the article brings out his arguments using research findings, data, and experience he has had in the industry. His explanations of the problems and negative publicity psychology incurs is followed by several examples, references and personal encounters. The author, for example, uses data from a scientific study he had done before to explain how erroneous beliefs about psychology is so widespread. Other evidences include reports from books and online resources, in-depth explanations of documented scenarios and evidences. The method was effective in justifying the hypothesis, as the given evidence was enough to highlight the problem. The concise listing of the evidences of clear failure of psychology towards solving common problems, the analysis of the wrong practices in the industry and the recommendations of the corrective measures were the epitome of the writer’s effective research approach. I would consider the author’s approach as his articulate research and analysis aided in revealing the nitty-gritty details of the study. The writing was also simple and easy to comprehend.
In my approach, I would consider using tables and graphs to display numerical data in studies involving large samples. The author mostly represented his data in theoretical manner, which rids the reader of an opportunity to get a sneak view of his analysis.
Questions
1 How do we consider psychology or psychological approach to problems as scientific?
2 What is the organization of Psychologists doing to change the public opinion of psychology?
Nathan, P. E., Stuart, P. F. & Dolan, S. L. (2000). Research on Psychotherapy Efficacy and Effectiveness: Between Scylla and Charybdis? University of Iowa. Journal of the American Psychological Association, Vol. 126, No. 6, 964–981.
The paper is mainly about the differences between the psychotherapy studies between those that focus on effectiveness and those that focus on efficacy. Through the study, the author brings out the conf...