How Do You Know?
It was a long time ago, but there was a time that prominent social theorists accused behaviorist of being communists. Those of us who believed that the best understanding of human behavior was achieved through systematic observation rather than theorizing about the nature of humanity were a minority but were not communists. We eventually won the day; behaviorism is now the dominant paradigm in the social sciences. But we did so not by casting theory aside, but by integrating theoretical and empirical approaches.
Theory is only theory unless tested by observation. Empiricism is often only description without a theoretical framework. Behaviors are only behaviors unless viewed within the perspective of a unifying theory. So, two different ways of understanding the world around us have come together to enhance our understanding of why we behave the way we do in different situations. Adherence to extreme positions got us nowhere until we understood that we were both trying to understand human behavior.
The study of culture has advanced from theory to concept. The concept can be tested empirically. After observation of many different organizations we now know that there is something called organizational culture that influences people’s behavior within an organization. We can use this concept to structure systematic observations of organizations in order to understand why the people within organizations behave the way that they do. We can then use this information to compare and contrast different organizations and different organizational cultures. I wonder where we’d be if we had stayed in two opposing camps tossing names back and forth without seriously examining our similarities and differences.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.