Sociological and Mathematical Models as Tools of Social Processes Applied Sociological Research

Abstract

The methodological aspects of building sociological and mathematical models as tools of applied sociological research of social phenomena and processes in the conditions of the information society have been elaborated on in the article. The role of modelling method in social cognition, forms of social phenomena and processes, issues of building models of social processes, approaches to constructing their models, criteria for systematization of mathematical models of social processes have been considered. The analysis of the problem of using the modelling method in sociology has been carried out, the definition of the concept of "descriptive-information model" has been presented. The methods used to classify the use of mathematical means in sociology, including stochastic models for social processes, deterministic models for social processes, models of structure and models of human behavior, have been defined. The technology of computer modeling, which acts in modern conditions as an alternative to mathematical models in sociology, has been considered. There is a gap in mathematical and formal sociology between models and empirical analysis. A sociological and mathematical model of the process of information interaction based on fuzzy cognitive modeling has been presented, which allows to formalize and take into account the subjective characteristics of the participants of communication in social systems whose assessment has verbal expression.