The social properties of phenomena can be defined using concepts of various levels of abstraction or generalization. The level of generalization is determined by the scope of the concept.

Scope of concept The class of objects promised in a concept is called, and the set of characteristics by which objects in this concept are generalized and distinguished is called content.

Types of concepts

A concept with an Empty Volume is a concept that does not include a single phenomenon that exists in reality. (Martian.)

A single concept (a concept with a single volume) is a concept that includes one phenomenon that exists in reality. (Russia)

A generalizing concept (a concept with multiple scope) is a concept that includes more than one object observed in reality. (quality of life, crime)

Features of Generalizing Concepts and Working with Them

¨ Generalizing concepts cannot be observed, since the phenomena they express do not exist in reality.

¨ To identify the relationship between the Object and the Subject of research, an assessment of their condition is required based on empirical facts that need to be observed.

¨ To determine the empirical facts that need to be observed during the study, the translation of generalizing concepts into individual concepts is required.

The translation of generalizing concepts into individual concepts begins already at the stage of conceptualization during the transition from an essential definition to a substantive one, from an essential quality to an internal content, that is, when the essential quality is decomposed into substantive properties.

9. What are concepts with different levels of generalization? List and expand the requirements for operational concepts as variables.

operational concepts as sociological research variables

1.From operational concepts to variables

Operational concepts create only a research basis. It is necessary to select those operational concepts that will be used in this study.

The selected operational concepts represent sociological research variables.

2. Concept of variables

A variable is a means by which distinctions can be made between units of study, that is, observation of changes in the state of which (means) allows this distinction to be made.

In other words, by these means some units of study can be distinguished from others.

Requirements for operational concepts based on their role as variables

A) For operational concepts to be variables, it is necessary that they specify a certain range of changes in the state of research units for classification, dividing them into types of the phenomenon under study.

If operational concepts do not specify a certain range of changes in the state of research units for classification, dividing them into types of the phenomenon under study, then an error occurred in the selection of these concepts for use as variables.

B) Whether there is an operational concept of a variable or not depends on the problem situation

Depending on the problem situation, the operational concept may or may not specify a certain range of changes in the state of research units for classification, dividing them into types of the phenomenon under study.

C) An operational concept as a variable must be empirically interpretable

A variable provides a basis for identifying empirical facts to be measured. To be able to distinguish one state of a variable from another, it must be possible to empirically observe the differences that allow one state of the variable to be distinguished from another.

As a result of the above reasoning, a clarifying definition of a variable can be formulated.

A variable is an empirically interpretable concept that takes on two or more meanings.

4. The role of the operational concept as a variable

The operational concept as a variable serves as a means of generalizing empirically observed individual states of the phenomena under study.

A variable is not a single concept, because it includes not individual states of the phenomenon under study, but classes of states.

A variable expressing different states of the phenomenon under study allows us to establish a relationship between socially significant types of phenomena under study.

All of the above means that Variable involves working not with individual facts, but with mass facts, which allows:

1. fix a set of classes of states;

2. establish a dependency between these classes, since single states do not allow establishing such a dependency.

Measuring a single condition allows us to establish only the fact that when a given mother uses an involving style of discipline, a given adolescent is prone to cheating. However, it remains unclear whether the discipline style used influenced the formation of such a tendency.

2 a.m. before writing a summary essay for a school or college exam. Unfortunately, you have no idea what a synthesis essay is, much less how to write one. Fear not, WikiHow is here to help! A synthesis essay or synthesis paper brings together various ideas and information from multiple sources into a coherent whole. Writing a synthesis essay requires the ability to categorize information and present it in an organized manner. Although this skill is developed in high school and college, it is also useful in the business and advertising world. Skip to step 1 to learn how to write a synthesis essay.

Steps

Part 1

Explore the topic

Understand the purpose of the synthesis essay. The purpose of a synthesis essay is to find meaningful connections between parts of a work or several works, with the goal of ultimately presenting and supporting an idea about a particular topic. In other words, when you study a topic, you will look for connections that can build a chain of compelling evidence for a particular point of view on the topic. Types of summary essays can be classified as follows:

Choose a topic suitable for your synthesis essay. Your topic should be broad enough to bring together several related sources, but not so broad that it conflates disparate sources. If you have the freedom to choose your topic, reading sources beforehand can help you decide what to write about. However, if you are writing a synthesis essay in school, you may be given a topic or need to choose one from a list.

• An example of a general topic narrowed within reasonable limits for a synthesis essay: Instead of the broad topic of social media, you could discuss your opinion on the impact texting has had on the English language.

1. Select and read your sources carefully. If you are taking an Advanced Placement test, the sources will be provided to you. You should choose at least three sources for your essay, and perhaps one or two more, depending on the amount of time you have to research the topic and write the paper. Look for material in your sources that relates to the reason you are writing your essay (i.e., your argument).

   Develop a thesis statement. After reading the sources you obtained or found yourself, you will have to formulate your opinion on your topic. Your thesis will be the main idea presented in the essay. One should cover the topic and express one's point of view on the topic. The thesis must be formulated as a complete sentence. Depending on the essay, your thesis statement can either be the first sentence to begin the essay or the last sentence of the first paragraph.

   • Example: Texting had a positive impact on the English language as it helped millennials create their own form of the language.

2. Re-read your sources to find ideas that support your thesis. Review your sources and select key quotes, statistics, ideas, and facts that support your thesis. Write them down. You will use them throughout the essay.

   • If you plan to accept your opponents' claims and refute their theory, you should also find some quotes that go against your thesis and think of ways to refute them.
   • Example:: For the thesis statement above, an excellent solution would be to include quotes from linguists discussing new words that were formed through "text messaging", statistics that show that the English language has changed with almost every generation, and facts that show that students still know grammar and spelling (your opponents will cite this argument as the main reason that texting has had negative influence on English).

   Part 2

   Plan your essay

   1. Create an outline for your essay. You can either do this as a simple outline on paper or formulate it in your head, but you must decide how to present your material in the most advantageous manner. If you are writing this paper for an Advanced Placement test, know that testers will be looking for a specific structure. This structure looks like this:

      • Introductory paragraph: 1. An introductory sentence that acts like the hook of a fishing rod, capturing the reader's interest. 2. Determine the issue you will discuss. 3. Your thesis statement.
      • Body: 1. Begin with a sentence that reveals the reason why your thesis should be supported. 2. Your explanation and opinion on the topic of the question. 3. Evidence from your sources that supports the claim you just made. 4. Explanation of the significance of the source(s).
      • Concluding paragraph: 1. State the significance of your topic through the evidence and reflections discussed in the article. 2. A thoughtful or thought-provoking conclusion to the work.

   2. Use a more creative structure to present your points. Sometimes you must use a more complex structure than the one listed above. You can use one or more of these methods to organize your essay:

      • Example/illustration. This can be a detailed paraphrase, summary, or direct quote from your source material that supports your point. You may use more than one example or illustration if your work requires it. But you shouldn't make your work a series of examples instead of proving your thesis.
      • The "scarecrow" method. With this technique, you present an argument opposing the argument in your essay and then show the weaknesses and shortcomings through counterarguments. This structure shows your awareness of opposing opinions and your willingness to respond to them. You present a counter-argument immediately after the thesis, followed by a rebuttal, and end with a positive argument that supports your thesis.
      • Concession method. The concession method is similar to the bogeyman method, but it recognizes the validity of the counter-argument by showing that the original argument is stronger. This structure works well when readers take an opposing view.
      • Comparison and contrast. This structure compares the similarities and highlights the differences between two objects or sources to show all the facets. Using this structure requires a careful reading of the source material to find key points of similarity and difference. This type of essay can present its arguments source by source or along lines of similarity or difference.

   3. Structure secondary information correctly. Although most synthesis essays focus entirely on proving the thesis, some papers present ideas found in sources rather than focusing on the author's point of view. There are two main ways to construct this type of synthesis essay:

      • Summary. This structure provides a summary of each of your sources, strengthening the argument for your thesis. This provides concrete evidence for your point of view, but generally does not provide the opportunity to present your own opinion. This structure is most often used in review articles.
      • List of arguments. This is a series of sub-points that follow from the main thesis of your work. Each argument is supported by evidence. As with a summary, the arguments should become increasingly stronger, with the strongest argument being the last.

   Part 3

   Write your essay

   1. Write a draft according to your plan. Be willing to deviate from your plan if you find new ideas and information that support your thesis. If you are writing a summary for an exam, you will only have time to write one draft, so write it as best you can.

      • Your essay should have an introductory paragraph that includes your thesis, a body that presents evidence to support your thesis, and a conclusion that summarizes your thesis.

   2. Write in the third person. Use he and she pronouns and use complete, unambiguous sentences. Provide enough information to make your argument convincing. You should write in active voice as much as possible, although passive voice is acceptable whether you use first person (“I”) or second person (“you”).

   3. Use transitions between paragraphs to make your flow of thoughts logical. Transitions are a great opportunity to show where your sources complement each other: "Halström's theory of price fixing is supported in Pennington's The Economic Climber, where she notes the following:

      • Long quotes of three lines or more should generally be combined into a block to draw readers' attention to them.

Generalization is a product of mental activity, a form of reflection of the general characteristics and qualities of the phenomena of reality.

Generalization is a transition to a higher level by identifying common features (properties, relationships, development trends, etc.) of objects in the area under consideration; entails the emergence of new scientific concepts, laws, and theories.

Generalization in teaching

Generalization provides certainty and consistency in students’ thinking. Generalization in teaching comes in two forms - empirical and theoretical. Empirical generalization is carried out by comparing a group of objects (or ideas about them) and identifying their identical, repeating or common properties. Empirical generalization serves as the basis for the formation of both everyday ideas and empirical concepts in science, and is characteristic of the initial stages of cognition. One of the most common ways to implement this type of generalization in teaching is the information-receptive teaching method. Theoretical generalization is carried out by analyzing the system, which consists of transforming it in order to identify some abstract initial relationship as the genetically common basis of this system. Theoretical generalization is used in such an organization of learning in which students acquire knowledge in the process of solving problems. Transforming its conditions, they find a general principle of transition to many other homogeneous problems. This type of generalization is characteristic of a fairly developed level of cognition.

Types of generalization

Types of generalization correspond to types. The most studied generalizations are in the form of word meanings. Generalization also acts as a means of mental activity. The simplest generalizations involve combining, grouping objects based on a separate, random attribute (syncretic associations). More complex is complex generalization, in which a group of objects is combined into a single whole for various reasons. The most difficult generalization is one in which species and generic characteristics are clearly differentiated and the object is included in a certain system of concepts. Complex generalizations (as well as syncretic ones) are presented at any level of complexity of intellectual activity. When studying the formation of new generalizations in psychology, the method of forming “artificial concepts” is used, when methods of grouping objects typical for a given person are analyzed (syncretistic, complex, conceptual). The same generalization can be formed as a result of different organization of human research actions (a generalization built on the basis of the minimum necessary data, and the same generalization built on the basis of redundant data). When studying generalizations in psychology, methods for defining concepts, comparing and classifying them are used. Research on purposeful management of the process of mastering generalizations has become widespread. One word usually has several generalizations associated with it. The actual use of one of them depends on

In principle, any information system faces the same questions. How to collect information? How to interpret it? In what form and how to remember it? How to find patterns in the collected information and in what form to write them down? How to react to incoming information? Each of the questions is important and inextricably linked with the others. In this series we are trying to describe how these issues are solved by our brain. In this part we will talk about perhaps the most mysterious component of thinking - the procedure for searching for patterns.

Interaction with the outside world leads to the accumulation of experience. If there are any patterns in this experience, then they can be identified and subsequently used. The presence of patterns can be interpreted as the presence of something common in the memories that make up the experience. Accordingly, the identification of such common entities is usually called generalization.

The task of generalization is a key task in all disciplines that are somehow related to data analysis. Mathematical statistics, machine learning, neural networks all revolve around the problem of generalization. Naturally, the brain did not stand aside and, as we can sometimes observe from our own experience, sometimes it also copes well with generalization.

Despite the fact that generalization arises always and everywhere, the task of generalization itself, if we consider it in a general form, remains quite vague. Depending on the specific situation in which generalization is required, the formulation of the generalization problem can vary over a very wide range. Different formulations of the problem give rise to very different and sometimes completely different solution methods.

The variety of approaches to generalization creates the feeling that the generalization procedure is something collective and that a universal generalization procedure apparently does not exist. However, it seems to me that universal generalization is possible and it is precisely this that is characteristic of our brain. Within the framework of the approach described in this series, we managed to come up with a surprisingly beautiful (at least it seems so to me) algorithm that includes all the classical variations of the generalization problem. This algorithm not only works well, but the most amazing thing is that it perfectly fits the architecture of biological neural networks, which makes us believe that, indeed, somewhere the real brain works this way.

Before describing the algorithm for such a universal generalization, let’s try to understand what forms of generalization are usually distinguished and, accordingly, what and why a universal approach should include.

Philosophical-semantic approach to generalization of concepts

Philosophy deals with semantic constructions. Simply put, it expresses and writes down its statements in phrases in natural language. The philosophical and semantic approach to generalization is as follows. Having concepts united by a certain species characteristic, it is necessary to move to a new concept, which gives a broader, but less specific interpretation, free from the species characteristic.

For example, there is the concept of “wristwatch”, which is described as: “a time indicator attached to the hand with a strap or bracelet.” If we get rid of the specific feature “attached to the hand...”, we will get the generalized concept of “watch”, like any instrument that determines time.

In the watch example, the very name of the wristwatch contained a hint for the generalization. It was enough to discard the extra word and the required concept was obtained. But this is not a pattern, but a consequence of semantics constructed “from the opposite”, when we already know the result of the generalization.

The Pure Generalization Problem

As formulated by Frank Rosenblatt, the problem of pure generalization is as follows: “In a “pure generalization” experiment, a model of the brain or perceptron is required to move from a selective response to one stimulus (say, a square located on the left side of the retina) to a similar stimulus that does not activate none of the same sensory endings (square on the right side of the retina)” (Rosenblatt, 1962).

The emphasis on “pure” generalization implies the absence of “clues.” If we were previously shown a square in all possible positions of the retina and given the opportunity to remember all this, then recognizing the square would become trivial. But according to the condition, the square was shown to us in one place, and we must recognize it in a completely different place. Convolutional networks solve this problem due to the fact that they initially contain rules for “dragging” any shape across the entire retinal space. By knowing how to "move" an image, they can take a square seen in one place and "try" it to all possible positions on the retina.

Finding a T-shaped pattern in different image positions (Fukushima K., 2013)

We solve the same problem in our model by creating a space of contexts. The difference from convolutional networks is who goes to whom - “mountain to Magomed” or “Magomed to mountain”. In convolutional networks, when analyzing a new picture, each previously known image is varied in all possible positions and “fitted” to the analyzed picture. In the contextual model, each context transforms (shuffles, rotates, scales) the analyzed picture as prescribed by its rules, and then the “shifted” picture is compared with “fixed” previously known images. This, at first glance, small difference gives rise to a subsequent very strong difference in approaches and their capabilities.

Related to the problem of pure generalization is the problem of invariant representation. Having a phenomenon that appears before us in different forms, it is required to invariantly describe these representations in order to recognize the phenomenon in any of its manifestations.

Classification problem

There are many objects. There are predefined classes. There is a training sample - a set of objects about which it is known what classes they belong to. It is required to build an algorithm that will reasonably classify any objects from the original set to one of the classes. In mathematical statistics, classification problems are classified as discriminant analysis problems.

Induction is related to generalization in two ways. Firstly, when we talk about a set of objects, it is implied that something previously served as the basis for combining these objects into a single set. That is, some mechanisms were found that made it possible to make a preliminary generalization.

Secondly, if we use the induction method to discover a certain feature that is characteristic of the elements of a certain group that describes a certain concept, then we can use this feature as a characteristic for assignment to this group.

For example, we discover that there are mechanical instruments with a distinctive dial and hands. Based on their external similarity, we make a generalization and classify them as watches, and form the corresponding concept.

Now we can take the next step of generalization. We can say that a “clock” generally includes everything that allows you to keep track of time. Now we can call the sun, which measures the day, and the school bells, which count off lessons, a clock.

Logical induction has much in common with semantic generalization of concepts. But semantic generalization places a slightly different emphasis. The semantic approach talks about the features that make up the description of a concept, and the possibility of discarding parts of them to obtain a more general formulation. At the same time, the question remains open: where should such definitions of concepts come from that will make it possible to make the transition to generalization “through discarding”. Incomplete logical induction precisely shows the way of forming such descriptive features.

Discretization problem

When dealing with continuous quantities, it is often necessary to describe them in discrete quantities. For each continuous quantity, the choice of quantization step is determined by the accuracy of the description that needs to be preserved. The resulting crushing intervals combine different values ​​of a continuous quantity, assigning them certain discrete concepts. This procedure can be classified as a generalization by the fact that the combination of values ​​occurs based on their falling into the quantization interval, which indicates their certain generality.

Correlation of concepts

Carrying out a generalization in any of the possible ways, we can present the result of the generalization through a system of concepts. At the same time, generalized concepts do not simply form a set of elements independent from each other, but acquire an internal structure of relationships.

For example, the classes obtained as a result of clustering form a certain spatial structure, in which some classes are closer to each other, some further.

When using a description of something through factors, a set of factor weights is used. Factor weights take real values. These values ​​can be approximated by a set of discrete concepts. Moreover, these discrete concepts will be characterized by a system of relations “more - less”.

Thus, each time we are interested not just in identifying generalizations, but also in forming a certain system in which it will be clear how these generalizations relate to all other generalizations.

A somewhat similar situation arises when analyzing natural language. Words of a language have certain relationships. The nature of these connections may be different. We can talk about the frequency of co-occurrence of words in real texts. We can talk about the similarity of their meanings. It is possible to build a system of relationships based on transitions to more general content. Such constructions lead to semantic networks of various types.