scholarly journals Choice and Social Stability: The Morphogenesis of a Sociodynamic Constant

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Graham
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Explanatory Gap ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Individual Actions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Explanatory Gap

This essay uses an example of Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic approach to sociodynamics to explore the explanatory gap indicated in the following propositions:1.Individuals act and interact in variable ways from constantly shifting states-of-affairs in pursuit of variable and inconsistent interests;2.Groups are made-up of individuals and their actions/interactions;3.The vast majority of groups, current and historic, are stable.Together, the above statements comprise one of the central, perennial problems of sociology; given that the three statements above are empirically verifiable and thus objectively true, we live in stable societies made up of mutually inconsistent, constantly fluctuating individual actions. But how can this be? How can the patterned regularity of social life be aggregated from the disorder and seeming randomness of individual actions? When modeled, sampled, and plotted, the data set of statement 1 should have wide fluctuation in its mean; indeed, rational choice models have shown this to be the case. However the data set for statement 3 should not, yet because 3 is derived from 1 (via the axiom held at statement 2), we are confronted with the above problem.The answer lies in what I call the Predictability Hypothesis, consisting of two clauses: A) of the possible paths to achieving her desired goals, an individual will choose the most predictable path towards the most predictable desired goal; if the individual cannot sufficiently predict the behavior or attributes of their interest or the path that constitutes pursuit of its achievement, she is very unlikely to choose to pursue the interest or to follow that path to the interest, and will instead choose a path and/or interest with a higher predictability; B) for comparable societies, those that provide more choice to their members simultaneously provide more predictability and will, ceteris paribus, be more stable than those that provide less choice and, thus, less predictability.I contend that this hypothesis allows the resolution of the above difficulty: the analytical centrality of (neo-Bayesian) predictability to every choice no matter the context bridges the explanatory gap between individual actions and the large-scale sociological phenomena of social stability; in the same way, the analytical centrality of stability to groups and group structures allows us to identify the predictable paths of agency. This analytical dualism is used to identify the mutual morphogenesis of both sociodynamic ‘poles’ in the example...individual and collective, ‘micro’ and ‘macro’, agent and structure-culture, in a way applicable to a wide range of rigorous sociological inquiry.

scholarly journals Choice and Social Stability: The Morphogenesis of a Sociodynamic Constant

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Graham
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Explanatory Gap ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Individual Actions ◽  
Group Structures ◽  
The Explanatory Gap

<p>This essay uses an example of Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic approach to sociodynamics to explore the explanatory gap indicated in the following propositions:</p> <p>1. Individuals act and interact in variable ways from constantly shifting states-of-affairs in pursuit of variable and inconsistent interests;</p> <p>2. Groups are made-up of individuals and their actions/interactions;</p> <p>3. The vast majority of groups, current and historic, are stable.</p> <p>It contends that individuals’ choices resolve the problem: the analytical centrality of (neo-Bayesian) predictability to every choice no matter the context bridges the explanatory gap between individual actions and the large-scale sociological phenomena of social stability; in the same way, the analytical centrality of stability to groups and group structures allows us to identify the predictable paths of agency. This analytical dualism is used to identify the mutual morphogenesis of both sociodynamic ‘poles’ in the example...individual and collective, ‘micro’ and ‘macro’, agent and structure-culture, in a way applicable to a wide range of rigorous sociological inquiry.</p>

scholarly journals Choice and Social Stability: The Morphogenesis of a Sociodynamic Constant

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Graham
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Explanatory Gap ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Individual Actions ◽  
Group Structures ◽  
The Explanatory Gap

<p>This essay uses an example of Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic approach to sociodynamics to explore the explanatory gap indicated in the following propositions:</p> <p>1. Individuals act and interact in variable ways from constantly shifting states-of-affairs in pursuit of variable and inconsistent interests;</p> <p>2. Groups are made-up of individuals and their actions/interactions;</p> <p>3. The vast majority of groups, current and historic, are stable.</p> <p>It contends that individuals’ choices resolve the problem: the analytical centrality of (neo-Bayesian) predictability to every choice no matter the context bridges the explanatory gap between individual actions and the large-scale sociological phenomena of social stability; in the same way, the analytical centrality of stability to groups and group structures allows us to identify the predictable paths of agency. This analytical dualism is used to identify the mutual morphogenesis of both sociodynamic ‘poles’ in the example...individual and collective, ‘micro’ and ‘macro’, agent and structure-culture, in a way applicable to a wide range of rigorous sociological inquiry.</p>

Integrative Data Analysis from a Unifying Research Synthesis Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun-Young Mun ◽  
Anne E. Ray
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Research Synthesis ◽  
Alcohol Intervention ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Integrative Data Analysis ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Model Complex ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Individual Participant

Integrative data analysis (IDA) is a promising new approach in psychological research and has been well received in the field of alcohol research. This chapter provides a larger unifying research synthesis framework for IDA. Major advantages of IDA of individual participant-level data include better and more flexible ways to examine subgroups, model complex relationships, deal with methodological and clinical heterogeneity, and examine infrequently occurring behaviors. However, between-study heterogeneity in measures, designs, and samples and systematic study-level missing data are significant barriers to IDA and, more broadly, to large-scale research synthesis. Based on the authors’ experience working on the Project INTEGRATE data set, which combined individual participant-level data from 24 independent college brief alcohol intervention studies, it is also recognized that IDA investigations require a wide range of expertise and considerable resources and that some minimum standards for reporting IDA studies may be needed to improve transparency and quality of evidence.

Characterising RDF data sets

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier D Fernández ◽  
Miguel A Martínez-Prieto ◽  
Pablo de la Fuente Redondo ◽  
Claudio Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Data Structures ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Rdf Data ◽  
Description Framework ◽  
Resource Description

The publication of semantic web data, commonly represented in Resource Description Framework (RDF), has experienced outstanding growth over the last few years. Data from all fields of knowledge are shared publicly and interconnected in active initiatives such as Linked Open Data. However, despite the increasing availability of applications managing large-scale RDF information such as RDF stores and reasoning tools, little attention has been given to the structural features emerging in real-world RDF data. Our work addresses this issue by proposing specific metrics to characterise RDF data. We specifically focus on revealing the redundancy of each data set, as well as common structural patterns. We evaluate the proposed metrics on several data sets, which cover a wide range of designs and models. Our findings provide a basis for more efficient RDF data structures, indexes and compressors.

Effect of Commercial Neighbors on The Online Popularity of Peer-To-Peer Accommodation-Sharing Properties

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 780-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianwei Liu ◽  
Jinah Park ◽  
Karen Xie ◽  
Haiyan Song ◽  
Wei Chen
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Service Operations ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Price Difference ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Ownership Types

Commercial hosts are becoming increasingly common in peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation sharing. Yet the interplay between commercial and individual hosts has been unclear. This study investigates the effect of properties managed by commercial hosts on the individual hosts in the neighborhood. Specifically, we hypothesize that an increase in commercial properties, which have competitive advantages, would penetrate neighborhood markets and cannibalize the online popularity of individual properties. We test these hypotheses using a large-scale, longitudinal data set collected from a leading P2P accommodation-sharing platform in Beijing. The findings show that an increase in commercial properties is associated with a decline in the popularity of individual properties in the neighborhood. However, the negative effect of commercial properties is weakened when there is a higher price difference between the two ownership types and a higher density of tourist attractions. The implications for service operations and strategies for P2P accommodation-sharing businesses are discussed.

scholarly journals XMM-Newton observations of elliptical galaxies in the local universe

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 273-273
Author(s):  
Ginevra Trinchieri
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spectral Characteristics ◽  
Large Field ◽  
Specific Class ◽  
Early Type ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Compact Source ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual

XMM-Newton is well suited to the study of the X-ray properties of early-type galaxies: the wide energy band allows a characterization of the different components of the X-ray emission in galaxies, separating the gas from the compact source component through their spectral characteristics, and identifying low-luminosity absorbed AGNs; the large field of view allows a proper understanding of the large scale emission, and the separation between the galaxy and the surrounding group. Nonetheless, in spite of the much improved understanding of the X-ray characteristics of this class of sources, much of the original questions on the global X-ray properties of early-type galaxies remain. One in particular: how can we predict how much gas is there in any given galaxy? We have learned that the individual sources are tightly linked to the stellar component, both field stars and relative frequency of globular clusters. We have also learned that the central group galaxies, brighter and more extended, might represent a specific class of early-type galaxies, rather than the population as a whole. Yet we have not learned how to predict, from the stellar properties, how much hot gas a galaxy will have. Even a well selected class of sources, namely early type galaxies in isolation, where we can exclude the influence of the environment, appear to retain different amounts of the hot ISM produced by the stellar population, and display a wide range of Lx for their gaseous component for a relative narrow range of Lb, or mass [measured through LK], as shown by Fig. 1.

scholarly journals Reflections on Analytical Choices in the Scaling Model for Test Scores in International Large-Scale Assessment Studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Robitzsch ◽  
Oliver Lüdtke
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Scaling Model ◽  
Large Scale Assessment ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Analytical Strategies ◽  
The Individual

International large-scale assessments (LSAs) such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) provide important information about the distribution of student proficiencies across a wide range of countries. The repeated assessments of these content domains offer policymakers important information for evaluating educational reforms and received considerable attention from the media. Furthermore, the analytical strategies employed in LSAs often define methodological standards for applied researchers in the field. Hence, it is vital to critically reflect the conceptual foundations of analytical choices in LSA studies. This article discusses methodological challenges in selecting and specifying the scaling model used to obtain proficiency estimates from the individual student responses in LSA studies. We distinguish design-based inference from model-based inference. It is argued that for the official reporting of LSA results, design-based inference should be preferred because it allows for a clear definition of the target of inference (e.g., country mean achievement) and is less sensitive to specific modeling assumptions. More specifically, we discuss five analytical choices in the specification of the scaling model: (1) Specification of the functional form of item response functions, (2) the treatment of local dependencies and multidimensionality, (3) the consideration of test-taking behavior for estimating student ability, and the role of country differential items functioning (DIF) for (4) cross-country comparisons, and (5) trend estimation. This article's primary goal is to stimulate discussion about recently implemented changes and suggested refinements of the scaling models in LSA studies.

The Russo-Turkish Wars in Russian Literature: Axiological Priorities in Historical Dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
D. V. Larkovich
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Analytical Description ◽  
Direct Evaluation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
Historical Dynamics ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Literary Process ◽  
Battle Scenes ◽  
The Individual

The paper represents the experience of analytical description of the fictional discourse, which captures the chronicle of the long-lasting military confrontation between the Russian Empire and the Sublime Porta. The author pursues the goal to trace the logic of evaluative dynamic specific to the Russian literary tradition in the perception and reflection of the events of the Russo-Turkish wars. The material of the paper is a sufficiently voluminous corpus of literary and journalistic texts, most fully and clearly representing the wide range and variability of axiological attitudes of participants of the XVI–XIX centuries national literary process who responded to these events. Among them are such iconic names for Russian intellectual and artistic culture as M.V. Lomonosov, G.R. Derzhavin, A.F. Veltman, A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, M.P. Pogodin, N.A. Nekrasov, A.N. Pleshcheev, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, V.M. Garshin and many others. As a result, the author concludes that the nearly four-century history of the Russo-Turkish wars provided rich material for creative initiatives of Russian writers and significantly influenced the development of the Russian literary process. Reacting swiftly to the events of numerous military conflicts, fiction produced and clearly demonstrated ideological and axiological priorities of public consciousness from the perspective of their historical dynamics. The general logic of the Russian-Turkish confrontation theme development was directly expressed at the level of poetics in artistic creations. Comparing the early literary experiences of understanding and depicting military conflicts, one can observe a general movement from the general to the particular, from the collective to the individual, from direct evaluation to complex ethical collisions. As artistic consciousness develops, depictions of large-scale battle scenes give way to literary sketches of inner experiences, psychological and existential perspectives replace the external perspective of describing events. The perception of the war is gradually, but more distinctly reveals through the prism of the personal consciousness of an author and his character and is perceived as a personally lived meaningful experience.

Assembly Sites in Scandinavia: Activities and Rituals of the Community

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Sanmark
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Group Interaction ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
Community Activities ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Shared Ownership

Chapter 5 shifts the focus to the rituals and activities of the wider community in Scandinavia. At thing sites a wide range of community activities and rituals, which most likely and created collective memories and strengthened social cohesion, were enacted. Many of these activities may have been designed by the elite, but equally the idea of assemblies as communal spaces may have been collectively driven. The archaeological signature of meeting-places and assembly-sites suggests associations with feasting and eating on a large-scale, and architectural layouts that emphasised the collective over the individual and facilitated group interaction and cohesion. The construction, enlargement and maintenance of monuments and other features required the participation of large numbers of people. By joining in this work the population gained shared ownership of the sites. This was further enhanced by communal activities during the meetings, which also involved games and sports, as well as trade. Assemblies therefore formed arenas of interplay between the top-elite and the wider population; kings were elected and ruled through the assembly, while at the same time continuously dependent on the endorsement of the people.

Exploring Individual Activity-Travel Patterns Based on Geolocation Data from Mobile Phones

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110312
Author(s):  
Biao Yin ◽  
Fabien Leurent
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Travel Patterns ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Individual Activity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Individual Mobility ◽  
Daily Mobility ◽  
Home Based ◽  
The Individual

Data mining techniques can extract useful activity and travel information from large-scale data sources such as mobile phone geolocation data. This paper aims to explore individual activity-travel patterns from samples of mobile phone users using a two-week geolocation data set from the Paris region in France. After filtering the data set, we propose techniques to identify individual stays and activity places. Typical activity places such as the primary anchor place and the secondary place are detected. The daily timeline (i.e., activity-travel program) is reconstructed with the detected activity places and the trips in-between. Based on user-day timelines, a three-stage clustering method is proposed for mobility pattern analysis. In the method framework, activity types are first identified by clustering analysis. In the second stage, daily mobility patterns are obtained after clustering the daily mobility features. Activity-travel topologies are statistically investigated to support the interpretation of daily mobility patterns. In the last stage, we analyze statistically the individual mobility patterns for all samples over 14 days, measured by the number of days for all kinds of daily mobility patterns. All individual samples are divided into several groups where people have similar travel behaviors. A kmeans++ algorithm is applied to obtain the appropriate number of patterns in each stage. Finally, we interpret the individual mobility patterns with statistical descriptions and reveal home-based differences in spatial distribution for the grouped individuals.

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