Explaining Social Change : an Analytical Approach

Analytical sociology is a middle-range approach to sociological theorizing which seeks to develop precise and realistic action-based explanations of various social phenomena. At the heart of the analytical approach is the idea that acceptable explanations must detail the mechanisms through which the phenomena to be explained were brought about. In this article I discuss the most important elements of this approach and I try to illustrate the various components involved in an explanation of social change. The analytical approach adopted here seeks to closely integrate mechanism-based theories of action and interaction, and agent-based computational modelling. The article is organized in the following way: first I present the guiding ideas behind the mechanisms approach. Second I discuss various mechanisms of action and interaction to illustrate what it is all about. Third I use a socalled agent-based model for illustrating how one can link individual-level mechanisms to social outcomes. Fourth I show how important it is to empirically calibrate these types of models. And fifth, and finally, I round it all up with some concluding remarks.La sociología analítica es una aproximación a la teorización social «de alcance intermedio» que persigue desarrollar explicaciones precisas, realistas y basadas en la acción acerca de diversos fenómenos sociales. En el núcleo del enfoque analítico se encuentra la idea de que las explicaciones aceptables deben detallar los mecanismos a través de los cuales se produjeron los fenómenos a explicar. En este artículo discuto los elementos más importantes de este enfoque e intento ilustrar los diversos componentes que integran la explicación del cambio social. El enfoque analítico adoptado aquí busca integrar estrechamente las teorías de la acción y la interacción basadas en mecanismos con los modelos computacionales basados en agentes. El artículo se organiza de la siguiente manera: primero, presento las ideas-guía que subyacen al enfoque de los mecanismos. Segundo, discuto varios mecanismos de acción e interacción con objeto de ilustrar cómo funciona el enfoque. Tercero, utilizo un modelo basado en la agencia para ilustrar cómo pueden vincularse los mecanismos de nivel individual con los resultados sociales. Cuarto, muestro lo importante que resulta el calibrar empíricamente este tipo de modelos. Y, quinto y último, redondeo todo lo anterior con unas observaciones finales

Sociological Individualism

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Chapter 3 Analytical Sociology amidst a Computational Social Science Revolution

"The Handbook of Computational Social Science is a comprehensive reference source for scholars across multiple disciplines. It outlines key debates in the field, showcasing novel statistical modeling and machine learning methods, and draws from specific case studies to demonstrate the opportunities and challenges in CSS approaches. The Handbook is divided into two volumes written by outstanding, internationally renowned scholars in the field. This first volume focuses on the scope of computational social science, ethics, and case studies. It covers a range of key issues, including open science, formal modeling, and the social and behavioral sciences. This volume explores major debates, introduces digital trace data, reviews the changing survey landscape, and presents novel examples of computational social science research on sensing social interaction, social robots, bots, sentiment, manipulation, and extremism in social media. The volume not only makes major contributions to the consolidation of this growing research field, but also encourages growth into new directions. With its broad coverage of perspectives (theoretical, methodological, computational), international scope, and interdisciplinary approach, this important resource is integral reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers engaging with computational methods across the social sciences, as well as those within the scientific and engineering sectors.

Mesolevel networks and the diffusion of social movements: The case of the Swedish Social Democratic Party

In analyzing the spatial diffusion of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, this article introduces the notion of a mesolevel network. A mesolevel network is a social network that differs in three important respects from interpersonal microlevel networks directly linking prior and potential adopters of a practice to one another: (1) it is generated by a different causal process than the microlevel network; (2) it tends to be much sparser than the microlevel network; and (3) the typical edge of a mesolevel network bridges much longer sociometric and geographic distances than the typical edge of a microlevel network. These types of mesolevel networks are important because they can dramatically influence the speed at which a contagious practice will diffuse. The mesolevel network focused upon in this article is the network that emerged out of the travel routes of political agitators affiliated with the Social Democratic Party. Computational modeling shows that the diffusion of the Social Democratic Party is likely to have been considerably influenced by the structure of this network. Empirical analyses of the founding of party organizations during the period 1894-1911 support these theoretical predictions and suggest that this mesolevel network was of considerable importance for the diffusion of the Swedish Social Democratic Party

A good professional reputation is in the eye of the beholder

Reputation is audience-specific, write Gokhan Ertug, Tamar Yogev, Yonghoon Lee and Peter Hedströ

Capacitive biosensor based on synthetic receptors for multiplex monitoring of amphetamine-type stimulants in the water system

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Effect of Cooling Rate after Solution Treatment on Subsequent Phase Separation Evolution in Super Duplex Stainless Steel 25Cr-7Ni (wt.%)

The effect of cooling rate after solution treatment on the initial structure of super duplex stainless steel 25Cr-7Ni (wt.%), and the effect of the initial structure on phase separation (PS) evolution during subsequent aging were investigated. The nanostructure in the bulk of the steel was studied using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). Ex situ SANS experiments showed that the rate of PS differs during aging, due to the different initial structures imposed by the difference in cooling rate after solution treatment. In situ SANS experiments revealed that the PS is already pronounced after aging at 475 ◦C for 180 min and that a slower cooling rate after solution treatment will lead to more significant PS. Hence, PS depends on the plate thickness, imposing different cooling rates in the production of duplex stainless steels

Small-angle neutron scattering study on phase separation in a super duplex stainless steel at 300 °C – Comparing hot-rolled and TIG welded material

The evolution of nanoscale phase separation in the ferrite phase of super duplex stainless steel 25Crsingle bond7Ni (wt%) (SDSS 2507) and two SDSS TIG (tungsten inert gas) weldments have been quantitatively investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The results show that the phase separation is more pronounced in the SDSS weldments in comparison to the base metal SDSS 2507, especially after aging for 35,000 h at 300 °C. These results correlate with the higher ferrite micro-hardness in the aged TIG weldments than in the SDSS 2507. The enhanced phase separation is partly due to the higher contents of Cr and Ni in the ferrite of TIG weldments compared to SDSS 2507 base metal, revealed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Additionally, the residual strain measurements through focused ion beam and digital image correlation (FIB-DIC), indicate larger residual strains in the ferrite of weldments than in the base metal SDSS 2507. This is also believed to contribute to the enhanced phase separation