Indian psychology and the scientific method

Peter Sedlmeier

Some authors are quite sceptical about applying the scientific method to genuine Indian psychology, but the majority of scholars who have written on the topic seem to be rather open, although usually not very concrete about possible connections. The crucial question seems to be whether methods as used in academic psychology can be successfully applied to conducting meaningful research on Indian psychology. This paper argues that this can and should be done. First, the scientific method is described briefly and it is argued that the most important part of the method is the derivation of meaningful hypotheses. Then a "meta-theory" of Indian psychology is introduced and a variety of possible hypotheses to test this meta-theory (and also parts of some of the underlying theories) are outlined. Finally, potential methodological problems are discussed and it is argued that — although it might be quite difficult to apply them for some hypotheses — either suitable methods are already available or can in principle be elaborated according to specific needs. In conclusion, the paper argues that without opening up Indian psychology to the quite comprehensive Western methodological approach, it will be hard to gain substantial recognition among academic psychologists.