ABSTRACT
The stages of the scientific process are now generally familiar. There is first the accurate observation of data; then the formulation of an hypothesis; and finally the promotion of the hypothesis by empirical verification to the status of a law. The attitude of scientific men themselves on the subject is rather curious. They seem often strangely anxious to give the impression that it is a matter right outside the scope of scientific investigation. Whatever the mechanism which produces a useful hypothesis may be, there is clearly no reason to suppose that it differs according to whether the relevant data are drawn from the field of physical or social phenomena. The actual function of the hypothesis in the scientific process raises, however, rather more complex issues. Psychology is, indeed, so demonstrably the foundation of the social sciences that it is from many points of view to be regretted that these are not all regarded as branches of it.
