Behavioralism

For the related movement in psychology, see behaviorism.

Behavioralism is an approach in the philosophy of science, describing the scope of the fields now collectively called the behavioral sciences; this approach dominated the field until the late 20th century.[1] Behavioralism attempts to explain human behavior from an unbiased, neutral point of view, focusing only on what can be verified by direct observation, preferably using statistical and quantitative methods.[2][3] In doing so, it rejects attempts to study internal human phenomena such as thoughts, subjective experiences, or human well-being.[4] The rejection of this paradigm as overly-restrictive would lead to the rise of cognitive approaches in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

  1. ^ Guy p. 58 says, "The term behaviouralism was recognized as part of a larger scientific movement occurring simultaneously in all of the social sciences, now referred to as the behavioural sciences."
  2. ^ Guy, p. 58 says, "Behaviouralism emphasized the systematic understanding of all identifiable manifestations of political behaviour. But it also meant the application of rigorous scientific and statistical methods to standardize testing and to attempt value free inquiry of the world of politics... For the behaviouralist, the role of political science is primarily to gather and analyze facts as rigorously and objectively as possible."
  3. ^ Petro, p. 6 says, "Behavioralists generally felt that politics should be studied much in the same way hard sciences are studied."
  4. ^ Walton, pp. 1–2.