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Socionics pp 15–35Cite as

From “Clean” Mechanisms to “Dirty” Models: Methodological Perspectives of an Up-Scaling of Actor Constellations

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 3413))

Abstract

Quantitative and qualitative directions of an up-scaling of sociological and socionic models are discussed. In sociology, problems of up-scaling result from the fact that explanations of structural dynamics do not work with laws but with mechanisms. In contrast to scientific laws or simple correlations, a mechanism is a step-by-step analytical description of the social dynamics which bring about the respective structural effect. If models are up-scaled, the relations between their various independent and dependent variables become more and more ”fuzzy” and a tension can be identified between ”clean” mechanisms and ”dirty” models. Although sociological and socionic models are always constructed for specific cases, with all implications of ”dirtiness”, it will be argued that ”clean” mechanisms are not only helpful but indispensable: The ”dirtier” the models become with up-scaling, the ”cleaner” must be the mechanisms used in modelling to support scientific generalization.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Soziologie, FernUniversität in Hagen, 58084, Hagen, Germany

    Uwe Schimank

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  1. Uwe Schimank
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. DFKI GmbH, Saarbrücken, Germany

    Klaus Fischer

  2. Department of Technology Assessment, Hamburg University of Technology, Schwarzenbergstrasse 95, 21071, Hamburg, Germany

    Michael Florian

  3. Department of Technology Assessment, Hamburg University of Technology, Schwarzenbergstr. 95, 21071, Hamburg, Germany

    Thomas Malsch

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Schimank, U. (2005). From “Clean” Mechanisms to “Dirty” Models: Methodological Perspectives of an Up-Scaling of Actor Constellations. In: Fischer, K., Florian, M., Malsch, T. (eds) Socionics. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 3413. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11594116_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11594116_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-30707-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31613-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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