The study of human social behaviour and
its origins, development, organizations, and institutions is known as
Sociology. It is a science which uses various methods of investigation and
analysis to understand human social actions, social structure and functions.
The usage of mathematics to construct
social theories is termed as Mathematical Sociology. The problem with
sociological theory is that it is strong in intuitive content but weak from a
formal point of view. Mathematical Sociology aims to take sociological theory
and express it in formal terms. This approach helps to increase the clarity and
use mathematics to derive implications of a theory that cannot be arrived at
intuitively.
This method
needs making some specific assumptions about some social phenomenon, expressing
them in mathematical terms, and providing an empirical interpretation for the
ideas. It also means deducing properties of the model and comparing these with
relevant empirical data.
One of the
major contributions of Mathematical Sociology is Social network analysis.
Social network analysis is a methodical analysis of social networks. It
represents social relationships in terms of networks. The nodes of the network
are the individual actors. For example in the analysis of a friends’ network of
a person on Facebook, all the friends in the person’s friends list are the
nodes of the network. The relationship between the nodes i.e., friends in the
above example are represented by edges between the nodes. This analysis uses
various metrics like Centrality, Multiplexity, Density, Distance, Clustering
Coefficient, cohesion, propinquity, mutuality, homophily, etc. These metrics
help in comparing a network with others and get valuable insights. Visual
representation of these networks will help in better understanding these
networks and will also give valuable insights. Many of the analytical software like
gephi have modules for network visualisation. Social network analysis has
emerged as a key technique in modern sociology. It has also gained a
significant following in anthropology, biology, communication studies,
economics, geography, history, information science, organizational studies,
political science, social psychology, development studies, and sociolinguistics
and is now commonly available as a consumer tool.
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