Editing Social complexity (section)

==Methodologies==
[[File:Penrose tiling.gif|thumb|Illustration of complexity ([[Penrose tiling]] [[fractal]])]]
Methodologically, social complexity is theory-neutral, meaning that it accommodates both local and global approaches to sociological research.<ref name="CCS-MMT"/> The very idea of social complexity arises out of the [[Historical comparative research|historical-comparative]] methods of early sociologists; obviously, this method is important in developing, defining, and refining the theoretical construct of social complexity. As complex social systems have many parts and there are many possible relationships between those parts, appropriate methodologies are typically determined to some degree by the research level of analysis [[Differentiation (sociology)|differentiated]]<ref>Luhmann, Niklas (1982). ''The Differentiation of Society.'' New York, NY: Columbia University Press.</ref> by the researcher according to the level of description or explanation demanded by the research hypotheses.

At the most localized level of analysis, [[ethnographic]], [[Participant observation|participant-]] or non-participant observation, [[content analysis]] and other [[qualitative research]] methods may be appropriate. More recently, highly sophisticated [[quantitative research]] methodologies are being developed and used in sociology at both local and global [[level of analysis|levels of analysis]]. Such methods include (but are not limited to) [[bifurcation diagram]]s, [[Social network analysis|network analysis]], [[Nonlinear system|non-linear]] modeling, and [[Computational sociology|computational]] models including [[Cellular automaton|cellular automata]] programming, [[sociocybernetics]] and other methods of [[social simulation]].

===Complex social network analysis===
{{Main|Dynamic network analysis}}
Complex [[social network]] analysis is used to study the dynamics of large, complex social networks. [[Dynamic network analysis]] brings together traditional [[social network analysis]], [[link analysis]] and [[multi-agent system]]s within [[network science]] and [[network theory]].<ref>Carley, Kathleen M. (2003), "Dynamic Network Analysis." ''Dynamic Social Network Modeling and Analysis: Workshop Summary and Papers'', Ronald Breiger, Kathleen Carley, and Philippa Pattison (eds.), National Research Council (Committee on Human Factors): Washington, D.C.: 133–145.</ref> Through the use of key concepts and methods in [[social network analysis]], [[agent-based modeling]], theoretical [[physics]], and modern [[mathematics]] (particularly [[graph theory]] and [[fractal geometry]]), this method of inquiry brought insights into the dynamics and structure of social systems. New computational methods of localized social network analysis are coming out of the work of [[Duncan Watts]], [[Albert-László Barabási]], [[Nicholas A. Christakis]], [[Kathleen Carley]] and others.

New methods of global network analysis are emerging from the work of [[John Urry (sociologist)|John Urry]] and the sociological study of globalization, linked to the work of [[Manuel Castells]] and the later work of [[Immanuel Wallerstein]]. Since the late 1990s, Wallerstein increasingly makes use of complexity theory, particularly the work of [[Ilya Prigogine]].<ref>Barabási, Albert-László (2003). ''Linked: The New Science of Networks.'' Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.</ref><ref>Freeman, Linton C. (2004). ''The Development of Social Network Analysis: A Study in the Sociology of Science.'' Vancouver Canada: Empirical Press.</ref><ref>Watts, Duncan J. (2004). "The New Science of Networks." ''Annual Review of Sociology'', 30: 243–270.</ref> Dynamic social network analysis is linked to a variety of methodological traditions, above and beyond [[systems thinking]], including [[graph theory]], traditional [[social network]] analysis in sociology, and [[mathematical sociology]]. It also links to [[chaos theory|mathematical chaos]] and [[complex dynamics]] through the work of [[Duncan Watts]] and [[Steven Strogatz]], as well as fractal geometry through [[Albert-László Barabási]] and his work on [[scale-free networks]].

===Computational sociology===
{{Main|Computational sociology}}
The development of [[computational sociology]] involves such scholars as [[Nigel Gilbert]], [[Klaus G. Troitzsch]], [[Joshua M. Epstein]], and others. The foci of methods in this field include [[social simulation]] and [[data-mining]], both of which are sub-areas of computational sociology. Social simulation uses computers to create an artificial laboratory for the study of complex social systems; [[Data mining|data-mining]] uses machine intelligence to search for non-trivial patterns of relations in large, complex, real-world databases. The emerging methods of [[socionics]] are a variant of computational sociology.<ref>Gilbert, Nigel and Klaus G. Troitzsch (2005). ''Simulation for Social Scientists'', 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Open University Press.</ref><ref name=epstein07>Epstein, Joshua M. (2007). ''Generative Social Science: Studies in Agent-Based Computational Modeling''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.</ref>

Computational sociology is influenced by a number of micro-sociological areas as well as the macro-level traditions of systems science and systems thinking. The micro-level influences of [[symbolic interactionism|symbolic interaction]], [[exchange theory|exchange]], and [[rational choice theory|rational choice]], along with the micro-level focus of computational political scientists, such as [[Robert Axelrod (political scientist)|Robert Axelrod]], helped to develop computational sociology's [[:wikt:bottom-up|bottom-up]], [[agent-based]] approach to modeling complex systems. This is what [[Joshua M. Epstein]] calls [[generative science]].<ref name=epstein07 /> Other important areas of influence include [[statistics]], [[mathematical modeling]] and computer [[simulation]].

===Sociocybernetics===
{{Main|Sociocybernetics}}
[[Sociocybernetics]] integrates sociology with [[second-order cybernetics]] and the work of [[Niklas Luhmann]], along with the latest advances in [[complexity science]]. In terms of scholarly work, the focus of sociocybernetics has been primarily conceptual and only slightly methodological or empirical.<ref>[[Geyer, Felix]] and [[Johannes van der Zouwen]] (1992). "Sociocybernetics." ''Handbook of Cybernetics'', C.V. Negoita (ed.): 95–124. New York: Marcel Dekker.</ref> Sociocybernetics is directly tied to [[Systems thinking|systems thought]] inside and outside of sociology, specifically in the area of second-order cybernetics.