This book provides current information about the many recent contributions of social systems theory. While some sociologists feel that the systems age ended with functionalism, in reality a number of recent developments have occurred within the field. The author makes these developments accessible to sociologists and other non-systems scholars, and begins a synthesis of the burgeoning systems field and mainstream sociological theory. The analysis shows not only that important points of rapprochement exist between systems theory and sociological theory, but also that systems theory has in some...

How do we group different subjects on a variety of variables? Should we use a classification procedure in which only the concepts are classified (typology), one in which only empirical entities are classified (taxonomy), or a combination of both?

Kenneth D Bailey addresses these questions and shows how classification methods can be used to improve research. Beginning with an exploration of the advantages and disadvantages of classification procedures, the book covers topics such as: clustering procedures including agglomerative and divisive methods; the relationship among various...