HBO Handouts
HBO Handouts
HBO Handouts
“ Many of our most critical problems are not in the world of things, but in the world of
PEOPLE”. The study of human behavior, therefore, is just as important, if not more
important, than study of things. Indeed, there is no other subject more interesting and
challenging than people.”
Situation # 1
A story is told of an executive who had to drive some distance to his head office for
conference with his President
On his way, his car tires went off in a place near a mental hospital. He had
difficulty putting them back to be in time for his appointment when along came a man,
apparently a patient who was trying to escape from the institution.
The latter offered to help and to presto! The tires were in place in such a short time
much to amusement and pleasure of the business executive who uttered
“ Hey, man you’re a wizard. But why are you in this mental hospital?”
The man replied with twinkle in his eyes, “ I may be crazy but I am not stupid as you
are!”
What personal characteristics does each of the two actors in the story possess which
have affected their behavior? Can we compare the behavior of the executive and that of
the mental patient?
Situation # 2
It was observed with concern by a small group of employees of a marketing firm that
Rita was not eating her lunch for the fourth day with them. Her individual behavior
amazed them since she usually led the group to come together, start the meal and
recount the “stories” of the day.
What made Rita change her behavior? How did this affect the group? How would she
react if the group asked her the reason for her acting differently?
The Americans who were wondering why the Chinese used food sent a representative
to the Chinese group to inquire, “ When are your dead coming up to eat your food?”.
A quick Chinese retorted, “ At the very same time your dead will come up to smell your
flowers!”
Reverence for the dead is universal. It is how each culture manifests it that spells the
difference.
NATURE OF SCIENCE
Science is popularly defined as an accumulation of systematic knowledge based
on facts.
It is a method of approach to the entire empirical world.
Basic to modern science is an intricate relation between theory and facts.
FACT is regarded as an empirically verifiable observation
THEORY refers either to the relationships between facts or to
the ordering of terms in some meaningful way.
BASIC DEFINITIONS
The two words from which the term “ behavioral science” is derived are BEHAVIOR and
SCIENCE.
Science may be defined from two viewpoints :
STATIC VIEW defines science as a body of knowledge. Its emphasis is on the
scientific activity ( research) rather than on the activity itself.
DYNAMIC VIEW defines science as an activity as such, it is more concerned
with what scientists do.