How do we interact with people in our everyday life? Who are the people we are connected to? What are the consequences of overlapping social circles and how people deal with the potential emerging conflicts? What are the structural and cultural mechanisms that regulate social worlds? Network science is a scientific approach to the study of network dependencies and associations which tries to answer these and many other questions. This book explores the underlying mechanisms that regulate social life as they are produced, reproduced, modified, and abandoned in the spatial and temporal patterns of interactions. The mixed methods approach, that combines formal network analysis with qualitative materials and statistical tools, shows the importance of contextualising structural mechanisms in their social and cultural environment, and allows overcoming the traditional methodological boundaries that shape the field of social sciences.
How do we interact with people in our everyday life? Who are the people we are connected to? What are the consequences of overlapping social circles and how people deal with the potential emerging conflicts? What are the structural and cultural mechanisms that regulate social worlds? Network science is a scientific approach to the study of network dependencies and associations which tries to answer these and many other questions. This book explores the underlying mechanisms that regulate social life as they are produced, reproduced, modified, and abandoned in the spatial and temporal patterns of interactions. The mixed methods approach, that combines formal network analysis with qualitative materials and statistical tools, shows the importance of contextualising structural mechanisms in their social and cultural environment, and allows overcoming the traditional methodological boundaries that shape the field of social sciences.
"Analyzes the behavior, design, and implementation of artificial recurrent neural networks. Offers methods of synthesis for associative memories. Evaluates the qualitative properties and limitations of neural networks. Contains practical applications for optimal system performance."
A critical examination of the principles and practice of qualitative research is provided in this book which examines the interplay between context and method, making it invaluable for both the experienced and the beginning researcher. A range of methodological and practical issues central to the concerns of qualitative researchers are addressed. These include: the validity and plausibility of qualitative methods; the problems encountered using specific techniques in a range of social settings; and the moral issues raised in qualitative research. These themes are related to practical issues which are illustrated by a breadth of examples and in-depth case studies. The contributors look at the methods and strategies that they have used to study everyday life, and make suggestions to readers on why and how they might conduct their own studies. They raise issues that go beyond `cookbook' discussions of issues such as how to enter social settings, manage the subjects of one's research and ask `good' questions in the process of formulating research strategies. These issues are addressed within the framework of the larger purposes and uses of qualitative research where specific methodological problems are not used as ends in themselves.
The refereed proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Symbolic and Quantitative Approaches to Reasoning with Uncertainty, ECSQARU 2003, held in Aalborg, Denmark in July 2003. The 47 revised full papers presented together with 2 invited survey articles were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The papers are organized in topical sections on foundations of uncertainty concepts, Bayesian networks, algorithms for uncertainty inference, learning, decision graphs, belief functions, fuzzy sets, possibility theory, default reasoning, belief revision and inconsistency handling, logics, and tools.
Starting with an updated description of Allen's calculus, the book proceeds with a description of the main qualitative calculi which have been developed over the last two decades. It describes the connection of complexity issues to geometric properties. Models of the formalisms are described using the algebraic notion of weak representations of the associated algebras. The book also includes a presentation of fuzzy extensions of qualitative calculi, and a description of the study of complexity in terms of clones of operations.
In recent years, the theory has become widely accepted and has been further developed, but a detailed introduction is needed in order to make the material available and accessible to a wide audience. This will be the first book providing such an introduction, covering core theory and recent developments which can be applied to many application areas. All authors of individual chapters are leading researchers on the specific topics, assuring high quality and up-to-date contents. An Introduction to Imprecise Probabilities provides a comprehensive introduction to imprecise probabilities, including theory and applications reflecting the current state if the art. Each chapter is written by experts on the respective topics, including: Sets of desirable gambles; Coherent lower (conditional) previsions; Special cases and links to literature; Decision making; Graphical models; Classification; Reliability and risk assessment; Statistical inference; Structural judgments; Aspects of implementation (including elicitation and computation); Models in finance; Game-theoretic probability; Stochastic processes (including Markov chains); Engineering applications. Essential reading for researchers in academia, research institutes and other organizations, as well as practitioners engaged in areas such as risk analysis and engineering.
This is a subject that is as hot as a snake in a wagon rut, offering as it does huge potentiality in the field of computer programming. That’s why this book, which constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Abstraction, Reformulation, and Approximation, held in Whistler, Canada, in July 2007, will undoubtedly prove so popular among researchers and professionals in relevant fields. 26 revised full papers are presented, together with the abstracts of 3 invited papers and 13 research summaries.
This proceedings book presents state-of-the-art developments in theory, methodology, and applications of network analysis across sociology, computational science, education research, literature studies, political science, international relations, social media research, and urban studies. The papers comprising this collection were presented at the Fifth ‘Networks in the Global World’ conference organized by the Centre for German and European Studies of St. Petersburg University and Bielefeld University and held on July 7–9, 2020. This biannual conference series revolves around key interdisciplinary issues in the focus of network analysts, such as the multidimensional approach to social reality, translation of theories and methods across disciplines, and mixing of data and methods. The distinctive features of this book are the emphasis on in-depth linkages between theory, method, and applications, the blend of qualitative and quantitative methods, and the joint consideration of different network levels, types, and contexts. The topics covered by the papers include interrelation of social and cultural structures, constellations of power, and patterns of interaction in areas ranging from various types of communities (local, international, educational, political, and so on) to social media and literature. The book is useful for practicing researchers, graduate and postgraduate students, and educators interested in network analysis of social relations, politics, economy, and culture. Features that set the book apart from others in the field: · The book offers a unique cross-disciplinary blend of computational and ethnographic network analyses applied to a diverse spectrum of spheres, from literature and education to urban planning and policymaking. · Embracing conceptual, methodological, and empirical works, the book is among the few in network analysis to emphasize connections between theory, method, and applications. · The book brings together authors and empirical contexts from all over the globe, with a particular emphasis on European societies.
