ABSTRACT
In many respects, the practice of behavior analysis is unique, as com-
pared to those of the other helping professions. Although other fields
may represent that they base their treatment methods on science, behav-
ior analysis is the only human services approach to actually take the next
step and require that the treatment itself use these methods. This is pos-
sible because the methodology is founded on single-subject design re-
search where each individual serves as his or her own control (Bailey &
Burch, 2002). In research studies, this means that baseline data is col-
lected for each participant and interventions are applied and evaluated
for each person individually. This strategy is maintained in the therapy
that is derived from the science, that is, each client is evaluated individu-
ally, custom-tailored measurement is designed for each person based on
the referred behavior, and online evaluation of the intervention is made
continuously until the case is terminated. To complicate matters, the
field of behavior analysis encompasses a very wide range of clients (some
call them consumers) that have to be served ranging from very low func-
tioning, multiply physically handicapped, developmentally-disabled
individuals to high functioning autistic children and adults, to corpo-
rate supervisors, managers, and CEOs. There are perhaps a dozen spe-
cialized journals which publish research in the various areas of behavior
analysis. The ethical behavior analyst has to keep up with the latest de-
velopments in his or her specialty to meet the expectation of “excel-
lence” embodied in the BACB Guidelines.
