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Toward a Clarification of System Analysis in the Social Sciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

H. M. Blalock Jr.  and
Ann B. Blalock
H. M. Blalock Jr.
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Ann B. Blalock
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Abstract

This paper attempts to outline some of the important concepts and ideas used in system analysis which is taken to be a general mode of analysis used in all sciences. Systems are seen from three perspectives: (1) that involving the relationship between system and environment, (2) that involving interaction between several systems, and (3) that involving one type of system composed of other types of systems. The writers also discuss the concepts “structure” and “equilibrium” as they apply to system analysis, the point being made that the use of these concepts in the social sciences has often been vague or even incorrect.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , April 1959 , pp. 84 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © 1959 by Philosophy of Science Association

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