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Mass Action (sociology)
Mass action in sociology refers to the situations where numerous people behave simultaneously in a similar way but individually and without coordination. For example, at any given moment, many thousands of people are shopping - without any coordination between themselves, they are nonetheless performing the same mass action. Another, more complicated example would be one based on a work of 19th-century German sociologist Max Weber, ''The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism'': Weber wrote that capitalism evolved when the Protestant ethic influenced large number of people to create their own enterprises and engage in trade and gathering of wealth. In other words, the Protestant ethic was a force behind an unplanned and uncoordinated mass action that led to the development of capitalism. A bank run is mass action with sweeping implications. Upon hearing news of a bank's anticipated insolvency, many bank depositors may simultaneously rush down to a bank branch to withdraw th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order and social change. While some sociologists conduct research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes and phenomenological method. Subject matter can range from micro-level analyses of society (i.e. of individual interaction and agency) to macro-level analyses (i.e. of social systems and social structure). Traditional focuses of sociology include social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality, gender, and deviance. As all spheres of human activity are affected by the interplay between social structure and ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Group Action (sociology)
In sociology, a group action is a situation in which a number of agents take action simultaneously in order to achieve a common goal; their actions are usually coordinated. Group action will often take place when social agents realize they are more likely to achieve their goal when acting together rather than individually. Group action differs from group behaviours, which are uncoordinated, and also from mass actions, which are more limited in place. Group action is more likely to occur when the individuals within the group feel a sense of unity with the group, even in personally costly actions. See also * Affectional action * Collective action * Collective effervescence *Instrumental and value-rational action *Interpersonal relationship * Political movement * Social movement *Social relation *Socionics *Traditional action A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Collective Behavior
The expression collective behavior was first used by Franklin Henry Giddings and employed later by Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, Herbert Blumer, Ralph H. Turner and Lewis Killian, and Neil Smelser to refer to social processes and events which do not reflect existing social structure (laws, conventions, and institutions), but which emerge in a "spontaneous" way. Use of the term has been expanded to include reference to cells, social animals like birds and fish, and insects including ants. Collective behavior takes many forms but generally violates societal norms. Collective behavior can be tremendously destructive, as with riots or mob violence, silly, as with fads, or anywhere in between. Collective behavior is always driven by group dynamics, encouraging people to engage in acts they might consider unthinkable under typical social circumstances. Defining the field Turner and Killian were the first sociologists to back their theoretical propositions with visual evide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Action
In sociology, social action, also known as Weberian social action, is an act which takes into account the actions and reactions of individuals (or ' agents'). According to Max Weber, "Action is 'social' insofar as its subjective meaning takes account of the behavior of others and is thereby oriented in its course." Max Weber The basic concept was primarily developed in the non-positivist theory of Max Weber to observe how human behaviors relate to cause and effect in the social realm. For Weber, sociology is the study of society and behavior and must therefore look at the heart of interaction. The theory of social action, more than structural functionalist positions, accepts and assumes that humans vary their actions according to social contexts and how it will affect other people; when a potential reaction is not desirable, the action is modified accordingly. Action can mean either a basic action (one that has a meaning) or an advanced social action, which not only has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encyclopedia Galactica
The ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' is the name of a number of fictional or hypothetical encyclopedias containing all the knowledge accumulated by a galaxy-spanning (Type III in Kardashev scale) civilization. The name evokes the exhaustive aspects of the real-life ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. The concept of a "future encyclopedia" has become "something iconic among many lovers of the science fiction", and has been reused by numerous other writers. Asimov's ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' first appeared in Isaac Asimov's short story "Foundation" ('' Astounding Science Fiction'', May 1942), later republished as "The Encyclopedists" in the short-story collection ''Foundation'' (1951). Asimov's ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' was a compendium of all knowledge then available in the Galactic Empire, intended to preserve that knowledge in a remote region of the galaxy in the event of a foreseen galactic catastrophe. The ''Encyclopedia'' is later revealed to be an element ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematical Sociology
Mathematical sociology or the sociology of mathematics is an interdisciplinary field of research concerned both with the use of mathematics within sociological research as well as research into the relationships that exist between maths and society. Because of this, mathematical sociology can have a diverse meaning depending on the authors in question and the kind of research being carried out. This creates contestation over whether mathematical sociology is a derivative of sociology, an intersection of the two disciplines, or a discipline in its own right. This is a dynamic, ongoing academic development that leaves mathematical sociology sometimes blurred and lacking in uniformity, presenting grey areas and need for further research into developing its academic remit. History Starting in the early 1940s, Nicolas Rashevsky, and subsequently in the late 1940s, Anatol Rapoport and others, developed a relational and probabilistic approach to the characterization of large social n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundation Universe
The ''Foundation universe'' is the future history of humanity's colonisation of the galaxy, spanning nearly 25,000 years, created through the gradual fusion of the ''Robot series, Robot'', ''Galactic Empire series, Galactic Empire'', ''Foundation series, Foundation'' book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. Works set in the universe Asimov's ''Greater Foundation'' series Merging the ''Robot'', the ''Empire'' and the ''Foundation'' series The ''Foundation'' series is set in the same universe as Asimov's first published novel, ''Pebble in the Sky'', although ''Foundation'' takes place about 10,000 years later. ''Pebble in the Sky'' became the basis for the Galactic Empire series, ''Galactic Empire'' series. Then, at some unknown date (prior to writing ''Foundation's Edge'') Asimov decided to merge the ''Foundation''/''Galactic Empire'' series with his Robot series, ''Robot'' series. Thus, all three series are set in the same universe, giving them a combined length ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hari Seldon
Hari Seldon is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series. In his capacity as mathematics professor at Streeling University on the planet Trantor, Seldon develops psychohistory, an algorithmic science that allows him to predict the future in probabilistic terms. On the basis of his psychohistory he is able to predict the eventual fall of the Galactic Empire and to develop a means to shorten the millennia of chaos to follow. The significance of his discoveries lies behind his nickname "Raven" Seldon. In the first five books of the ''Foundation'' series, Hari Seldon made only one in-the-flesh appearance, in the first part of the first book (''Foundation''), although he did appear at other times in pre-recorded messages to reveal a "Seldon Crisis". After writing five books in chronological order, Asimov retroactively added two books to expand on the genesis of psychohistory. The two prequels—''Prelude to Foundation'' and '' Forward the Foundation''—describe Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundation Series
The ''Foundation'' series is a science fiction book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. First published as a series of short stories in 1942–50, and subsequently in three collections in 1951–53, for thirty years the series was a trilogy: '' Foundation''; '' Foundation and Empire''; and '' Second Foundation''. It won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. Asimov began adding new volumes in 1981, with two sequels: ''Foundation's Edge'' and '' Foundation and Earth'', and two prequels: '' Prelude to Foundation'' and ''Forward the Foundation''. The premise of the stories is that, in the waning days of a future Galactic Empire, the mathematician Hari Seldon spends his life developing a theory of psychohistory, a new and effective mathematics of sociology. Using statistical laws of mass action, it can predict the future of large populations. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a Dark Age ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (1922–1928)American (1928–1992) , occupation = Writer, professor of biochemistry , years_active = 1939–1992 , genre = Science fiction ( hard SF, social SF), mystery, popular science , subject = Popular science, science textbooks, essays, history, literary criticism , education = Columbia University ( BA, MA, PhD) , movement = Golden Age of Science Fiction , module = , signature = Isaac Asimov signature.svg Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compartmental Models In Epidemiology
Compartmental models are a very general modelling technique. They are often applied to the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases. The population is assigned to compartments with labels – for example, S, I, or R, (Susceptible, Infectious, or Recovered). People may progress between compartments. The order of the labels usually shows the flow patterns between the compartments; for example SEIS means susceptible, exposed, infectious, then susceptible again. The origin of such models is the early 20th century, with important works being that of Ross in 1916, Ross and Hudson in 1917, Kermack and McKendrick in 1927 and Kendall in 1956. The Reed-Frost model was also a significant and widely-overlooked ancestor of modern epidemiological modelling approaches. The models are most often run with ordinary differential equations (which are deterministic), but can also be used with a stochastic (random) framework, which is more realistic but much more complicated to analyze. Mod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Group Behavior
Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (''intra''group dynamics), or between social groups ( ''inter''group dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision-making behaviour, tracking the spread of diseases in society, creating effective therapy techniques, and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas and technologies. These applications of the field are studied in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, epidemiology, education, social work, leadership studies, business and managerial studies, as well as communication studies. History The history of group dynamics (or group processes) has a consistent, underlying premise: 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.' A social group is an entity that has qualities which cannot be understood just by studying the individuals that make up the group. In 1924, Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer proposed ‘There are e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
