Mathematical sociology

Mathematical sociology or the sociology of

mathematics[1] is an interdisciplinary field of
research concerned both with the use of
mathematics within sociological research[2] as
well as research into the relationships that exist
between maths and society.[3]

Because of this, mathematical sociology can

have a diverse meaning depending on the
authors in question and the kind of research
being carried out. This creates contestation
over whether mathematical sociology is a
derivative of sociology, an intersection of the
two disciplines, or a discipline in its own Mathematical Bridge, or officially Wooden Bridge, is an
arch bridge in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The
right.[4] This is a dynamic, ongoing academic
arrangement of timbers is a series of tangents that
development that leaves mathematical
describe the arc of the bridge, with radial members to tie
sociology sometimes blurred and lacking in
the tangents together and triangulate the structure, making
uniformity, presenting grey areas and need for
it rigid and self-supporting.
further research into developing its academic
merit.[5][6]

History
Starting in the early 1940s, Nicolas Rashevsky,[7][8] and subsequently in the late 1940s, Anatol Rapoport
and others, developed a relational and probabilistic approach to the characterization of large social networks
in which the nodes are persons and the links are acquaintanceship. During the late 1940s, formulas were
derived that connected local parameters such as closure of contacts – if A is linked to both B and C, then
there is a greater than chance probability that B and C are linked to each other – to the global network
property of connectivity.[9]

Moreover, acquaintanceship is a positive tie, but what about negative ties such as animosity among
persons? To tackle this problem, graph theory, which is the mathematical study of abstract representations
of networks of points and lines, can be extended to include these two types of links and thereby to create
models that represent both positive and negative sentiment relations, which are represented as signed
graphs. A signed graph is called balanced if the product of the signs of all relations in every cycle (links in
every graph cycle) is positive. Through formalization by mathematician Frank Harary, this work produced
the fundamental theorem of this theory. It says that if a network of interrelated positive and negative ties is
balanced, e.g. as illustrated by the psychological principle that "my friend's enemy is my enemy", then it
consists of two sub-networks such that each has positive ties among its nodes and there are only negative
ties between nodes in distinct sub-networks.[10] The imagery here is of a social system that splits into two
cliques. There is, however, a special case where one of the two sub-networks is empty, which might occur
in very small networks. In another model, ties have relative strengths. 'Acquaintanceship' can be viewed as
a 'weak' tie and 'friendship' is represented as a strong tie. Like its uniform cousin discussed above, there is a
concept of closure, called strong triadic closure. A graph satisfies strong triadic closure If A is strongly
connected to B, and B is strongly connected to C, then A and C must have a tie (either weak or strong).
In these two developments we have mathematical models bearing upon the analysis of structure. Other
early influential developments in mathematical sociology pertained to process. For instance, in 1952
Herbert A. Simon produced a mathematical formalization of a published theory[11] of social groups by
constructing a model consisting of a deterministic system of differential equations. A formal study of the
system led to theorems about the dynamics and the implied equilibrium states of any group.

The emergence of mathematical models in the social sciences was part of the zeitgeist in the 1940s and
1950s in which a variety of new interdisciplinary scientific innovations occurred, such as information
theory, game theory, cybernetics and mathematical model building in the social and behavioral sciences.[12]

Approaches

Mathematics in sociology

Focusing on mathematics within sociological research, mathematical sociology uses mathematics to

construct social theories. Mathematical sociology aims to take sociological theory and to express it in
mathematical terms. The benefits of this approach include increased clarity and the ability to use
mathematics to derive implications of a theory that cannot be arrived at intuitively. In mathematical
sociology, the preferred style is encapsulated in the phrase "constructing a mathematical model." This
means making specified assumptions about some social phenomenon, expressing them in formal
mathematics, and providing an empirical interpretation for the ideas. It also means deducing properties of
the model and comparing these with relevant empirical data. Social network analysis is the best-known
contribution of this subfield to sociology as a whole and to the scientific community at large. The models
typically used in mathematical sociology allow sociologists to understand how predictable local interactions
are and they are often able to elicit global patterns of social structure.[13]

Society and mathematics

Interested in the relationship between society and mathematical knowledge, mathematical sociology or the
sociology of mathematics forms a complementary sphere from disciplines like the sociology of knowledge
and sociology of science that tries to understand the social roots of mathematics as well as the impact maths
has had on society.[14][15] This reflexivity on the development and use of maths within sociology attempts
to understand how the facts of mathematics related to social constructions and the implications of bias that
maths may bring when applied to efforts in understanding social phenomanon.[16][17]

Further developments
In 1954, a critical expository analysis of Rashevsky's social behavior models was written by sociologist
James S. Coleman.[18] Rashevsky's models and as well as the model constructed by Simon raise a question:
how can one connect such theoretical models to the data of sociology, which often take the form of surveys
in which the results are expressed in the form of proportions of people believing or doing something. This
suggests deriving the equations from assumptions about the chances of an individual changing state in a
small interval of time, a procedure well known in the mathematics of stochastic processes.

Coleman embodied this idea in his 1964 book Introduction to Mathematical Sociology, which showed how
stochastic processes in social networks could be analyzed in such a way as to enable testing of the
constructed model by comparison with the relevant data. The same idea can and has been applied to
processes of change in social relations, an active research theme in the study of social networks, illustrated
by an empirical study appearing in the journal Science.[19]
In other work, Coleman employed mathematical ideas drawn from economics, such as general equilibrium
theory, to argue that general social theory should begin with a concept of purposive action and, for
analytical reasons, approximate such action by the use of rational choice models (Coleman, 1990). This
argument is similar to viewpoints expressed by other sociologists in their efforts to use rational choice
theory in sociological analysis although such efforts have met with substantive and philosophical
criticisms.[20]

Meanwhile, structural analysis of the type indicated earlier received a further extension to social networks
based on institutionalized social relations, notably those of kinship. The linkage of mathematics and
sociology here involved abstract algebra, in particular, group theory.[21] This, in turn, led to a focus on a
data-analytical version of homomorphic reduction of a complex social network (which along with many
other techniques is presented in Wasserman and Faust 1994[22]).

In regard to Rapoport's random and biased net theory, his 1961 study of a large sociogram, co-authored
with Horvath turned out to become a very influential paper.[23] There was early evidence of this influence.
In 1964, Thomas Fararo and a co-author analyzed another large friendship sociogram using a biased net
model.[24] Later in the 1960s, Stanley Milgram described the small world problem and undertook a field
experiment dealing with it.[25][26] A highly fertile idea was suggested and applied by Mark Granovetter in
which he drew upon Rapoport's 1961 paper to suggest and apply a distinction between weak and strong
ties. The key idea was that there was "strength" in weak ties.[27]

Some programs of research in sociology employ experimental methods to study social interaction
processes. Joseph Berger and his colleagues initiated such a program in which the central idea is the use of
the theoretical concept "expectation state" to construct theoretical models to explain interpersonal processes,
e.g., those linking external status in society to differential influence in local group decision-making. Much
of this theoretical work is linked to mathematical model building, especially after the late 1970s adoption of
a graph theoretic representation of social information processing, as Berger (2000) describes in looking
back upon the development of his program of research. In 1962 he and his collaborators explained model
building by reference to the goal of the model builder, which could be explication of a concept in a theory,
representation of a single recurrent social process, or a broad theory based on a theoretical construct, such
as, respectively, the concept of balance in psychological and social structures, the process of conformity in
an experimental situation, and stimulus sampling theory.[28]

The generations of mathematical sociologists that followed Rapoport, Simon, Harary, Coleman, White and
Berger, including those entering the field in the 1960s such as Thomas Fararo, Philip Bonacich, and Tom
Mayer, among others, drew upon their work in a variety of ways.

Present research
Mathematical sociology remains a small subfield within the discipline, but it has succeeded in spawning a
number of other subfields which share its goals of formally modeling social life. The foremost of these
fields is social network analysis, which has become among the fastest growing areas of sociology in the
21st century.[29] The other major development in the field is the rise of computational sociology, which
expands the mathematical toolkit with the use of computer simulations, artificial intelligence and advanced
statistical methods. The latter subfield also makes use of the vast new data sets on social activity generated
by social interaction on the internet.

One important indicator of the significance of mathematical sociology is that the general interest journals in
the field, including such central journals as The American Journal of Sociology and The American
Sociological Review, have published mathematical models that became influential in the field at large.
More recent trends in mathematical sociology are evident in contributions to The Journal of Mathematical
Sociology (JMS). Several trends stand out: the further development of formal theories that explain
experimental data dealing with small group processes, the continuing interest in structural balance as a
major mathematical and theoretical idea, the interpenetration of mathematical models oriented to theory and
innovative quantitative techniques relating to methodology, the use of computer simulations to study
problems in social complexity, interest in micro–macro linkage and the problem of emergence, and ever-
increasing research on networks of social relations.

Thus, topics from the earliest days, like balance and network models, continue to be of contemporary
interest. The formal techniques employed remain many of the standard and well-known methods of
mathematics: differential equations, stochastic processes and game theory. Newer tools like agent-based
models used in computer simulation studies are prominently represented. Perennial substantive problems
still drive research: social diffusion, social influence, social status origins and consequences, segregation,
cooperation, collective action, power, and much more.

Research programs
Many of the developments in mathematical sociology, including formal theory, have exhibited notable
decades-long advances that began with path-setting contributions by leading mathematical sociologists and
formal theorists. This provides another way of taking note of recent contributions but with an emphasis on
continuity with early work through the use of the idea of “research program,” which is a coherent series of
theoretical and empirical studies based on some fundamental principle or approach. There are more than a
few of these programs and what follows is no more than a brief capsule description of leading exemplars of
this idea in which there is an emphasis on the originating leadership in each program and its further
development over decades.

(1) Rational Choice Theory and James S. Coleman: After his 1964 pioneering Introduction to
Mathematical Sociology, Coleman continued to make contributions to social theory and mathematical
model building and his 1990 volume, Foundations of Social Theory was the major theoretical work of a
career that spanned the period from 1950s to 1990s and included many other research-based
contributions.[30] The Foundation book combined accessible examples of how rational choice theory could
function in the analysis of such sociological topics as authority, trust, social capital and the norms (in
particular, their emergence). In this way, the book showed how rational choice theory could provide an
effective basis for making the transition from micro to macro levels of sociological explanation. An
important feature of the book is its use of mathematical ideas in generalizing the rational choice model to
include interpersonal sentiment relations as modifiers of outcomes and doing so such that the generalized
theory captures the original more self-oriented theory as a special case, as point emphasized in a later
analysis of the theory.[31] The rationality presupposition of the theory led to debates among sociological
theorists.[32] Nevertheless, many sociologists drew upon Coleman’s formulation of a general template for
micro-macro transition to gain leverage on the continuation of topics central to his and the discipline's
explanatory focus on a variety of macrosocial phenomena in which rational choice simplified the micro
level in the interest of combining individual actions to account for macro outcomes of social processes.[33]

(2) Structuralism (Formal) and Harrison C. White: In the decades since his earliest contributions, Harrison
White has led the field in putting social structural analysis on a mathematical and empirical basis, including
the 1970 publication of Chains of Opportunity: System Models of Mobility in Organizations which set out
and applied to data a vacancy chain model for mobility in and across organizations. His very influential
other work includes the operational concepts of blockmodel and structural equivalence which start from a
body of social relational data to produce analytical results using these procedures and concepts. These ideas
and methods were developed in collaboration with his former students François Lorraine, Ronald Breiger,
and Scott Boorman. These three are among the more than 30 students who earned their doctorates under
White in the period 1963-1986.[34] The theory and application of blockmodels has been set out in detail in
a recent monograph.[35] White's later contributions include a structuralist approach to markets[36] and, in
1992, a general theoretical framework,[37] later appearing in a revised edition.[38]

(3) Expectation states theory and Joseph Berger: Under Berger’s intellectual and organizational leadership,
Expectation States Theory branched out into a large number of specific programs of research on specific
problems, each treated in terms of the master concept of expectation states. He and his colleague and
frequent collaborator Morris Zelditch Jr not only produced work of their own but created a doctoral
program at Stanford University that led to an enormous outpouring of research by notable former students,
including Murray Webster, David Wagner, and Hamit Fisek. Collaboration with mathematician Robert Z.
Norman led to the use of mathematical graph theory as a way of representing and analyzing social
information processing in self-other interactions. Berger and Zelditch also advanced work in formal
theorizing and mathematical model building as early as 1962 with a collaborative expository analysis of
types of models.[39] Berger and Zelditch stimulated advances in other theoretical research programs by
providing outlets for the publication of new work, culminating in a 2002 edited volume[40] that includes a
chapter that presents an authoritative overview of Expectation states theory as a program of cumulative
research dealing with group processes.

(4) Formalization in Theoretical Sociology and Thomas J. Fararo: Many of this sociologist’s contributions
have been devoted to bringing mathematical thinking into greater contact with sociological theory.[41] He
organized a symposium attended by sociological theorists in which formal theorists delivered papers that
were subsequently published in 2000.[42] Through collaborations with students and colleagues his own
theoretical research program dealt with such topics as macrostructural theory and E-state structuralism (both
with former student John Skvoretz), subjective images of stratification[43] (with former student Kenji
Kosaka), tripartite structural analysis (with colleague Patrick Doreian)[44] and computational sociology
(with colleague Norman P. Hummon).[45][46] Two of his books are extended treatments of his approach to
theoretical sociology.[47][48]

(5) Social Network Analysis and Linton C. Freeman: In the early 1960s Freeman directed a sophisticated
empirical study of community power structure. In 1978 he established the journal Social Networks. It
rapidly became a major outlet for original research papers that used mathematical techniques to analyze
network data. The journal also publishes conceptual and theoretical contributions, including his paper
“Centrality in Social Networks: Conceptual Clarification.” The paper has been cited more than 13,000
times.[49] In turn, the mathematical concept defined in that paper led to further elaborations of the ideas, to
experimental tests, and to numerous applications in empirical studies.[50] He is the author of a study of the
history and sociology of the field of social network analysis.[51]

(6) Quantitative Methodology and Kenneth C. Land: Kenneth Land has been on the frontier of quantitative
methodology in sociology as well as formal theoretical model building. The influential yearly volume
Sociological Methodology has been one of Land’s favorite outlets for the publication of papers that often lie
in the intersection of quantitative methodology and mathematical sociology. Two of his theoretical papers
appeared early in this journal: “Mathematical Formalization of Durkheim's Theory of Division of Labor”
(1970) and “Formal Theory” (1971). His decades-long research program includes contributions relating to
numerous special topics and methods, including social statistics, social indicators, stochastic processes,
mathematical criminology, demography and social forecasting. Thus Land brings to these fields the skills of
a statistician, a mathematician and a sociologist, combined.

(7) Affect Control Theory and David R. Heise: In 1979, Heise published a groundbreaking formal and
empirical study in the tradition of interpretive sociology, especially symbolic interactionism, Understanding
Events: Affect and the Construction of Social Action. It was the origination of a research program that has
included his further theoretical and empirical studies and those of other sociologists, such as Lynn Smith-
Lovin, Dawn Robinson and Neil MacKinnon. Definition of the situation and self-other definitions are two
of the leading concepts in affect control theory. The formalism used by Heise and other contributors uses a
validated form of measurement and a cybernetic control mechanism in which immediate feelings and
compared with fundamental sentiments in such a way as to generate an effort to bring immediate feelings in
a situation into correspondence with sentiments. In the simplest models, each person in an interactive pair, is
represented in terms of one side of a role relationship in which fundamental sentiments associated with each
role guide the process of immediate interaction. A higher level of the control process can be activated in
which the definition of the situation is transformed. This research program comprises several of the key
chapters in a 2006 volume[52] of contributions to control systems theory (in the sense of Powers 1975 [53])
in sociology.

(8) "Distributive Justice Theory" and Guillermina Jasso: Since 1980, Jasso has treated problems of
distributive justice with an original theory that uses mathematical methods.[54] She has elaborated upon and
applied this theory to a wide range of social phenomena.[55] Her most general mathematical apparatus –
with the theory of distributive justice as a special case—deals with any subjective comparison between
some actual state and some reference level for it, e.g., a comparison of an actual reward with an expected
reward. In her justice theory, she starts with a very simple premise, the justice evaluation function (the
natural logarithm of the ratio of actual to just reward) and then derives numerous empirically testable
implications.[56]

(9) Collaborative research and John Skvoretz. A major feature of modern science is collaborative research
in which the distinctive skills of the participants combine to produce original research. Skvoretz, in addition
to this other contributions, has been a frequent collaborator in a variety of theoretical research programs,
often using mathematical expertise as well as skills in experimental design, statistical data analysis and
simulation methods. Some examples are: (1) Collaborative work on theoretical, statistical and mathematical
problems in biased net theory.[57] (2) Collaborative contributions to Expectation States Theory.[58] (3)
Collaborative contributions to Elementary Theory.[59] (4) Collaboration with Bruce Mayhew in a
structuralist research program.[60] From the early 1970s, Skvoretz has been one of the most prolific of
contributors to the advance of mathematical sociology.[61]

The above discussion could be expanded to include many other programs and individuals including
European sociologists such as Peter Abell and the late Raymond Boudon.

Awards in mathematical sociology

The Mathematical Sociology section of The American Sociological Association in 2002 initiated awards for
contributions to the field, including The James S. Coleman Distinguished Career Achievement Award.
(Coleman had died in 1995 before the section had been established.) Given every other year, the awardees
include some of those just listed in terms of their career-long research programs:

2022: Guillermina Jasso, New York University

2020: Noah Friedkin, University of California, Santa Barbara
2018: Ronald Breiger, University of Arizona
2017: Lynn Smith-Lovin, Duke University.
2014: Philip Bonacich, University of California, Los Angeles.
2012: John Skvoretz, University of South Florida.
2010: David R. Heise, Indiana University.
2008: Scott Boorman, Yale University.
2006: Linton Freeman, University of California, Irvine.
2004: Thomas Fararo, University of Pittsburgh.
2002: Harrison White, Columbia University.
The section's other categories of awards and their recipients are listed at ASA Section on Mathematical
Sociology (http://www.asanet.org/asa-communities/asa-sections/current-sections/mathematical-sociology/m
athematical-sociology-section-award-recipients/)

Texts and journals

Mathematical sociology textbooks cover a variety of models, usually explaining the required mathematical
background before discussing important work in the literature (Fararo 1973, Leik and Meeker 1975,
Bonacich and Lu 2012). An earlier text by Otomar Bartos (1967) is still of relevance. Of wider scope and
mathematical sophistication is the text by Rapoport (1983). A very reader-friendly and imaginative
introduction to explanatory thinking leading to models is Lave and March (1975, reprinted 1993). The
Journal of Mathematical Sociology (started in 1971) has been open to papers covering a broad spectrum of
topics employing a variety of types of mathematics, especially through frequent special issues. Other
journals in sociology who publish papers with substantial use of mathematics are Computational and
Mathematical Organization Theory (https://link.springer.com/journal/volumesAndIssues/10588), Journal of
social structure (https://www.cmu.edu/joss/index.html), Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation
(http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS.html)

Articles in Social Networks, a journal devoted to social structural analysis, very often employ mathematical
models and related structural data analyses. In addition – importantly indicating the penetration of
mathematical model building into sociological research – the major comprehensive journals in sociology,
especially The American Journal of Sociology and The American Sociological Review, regularly publish
articles featuring mathematical formulations.

See also
Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, based on a massive expansion of the premise
Positivism
Statistics
Computational sociology
Game Theory
Thomas Schelling
Peter Blau
Harrison White
Nicolas Rashevsky
Society for Mathematical Biology
Interpersonal ties
James Samuel Coleman
James D. Montgomery
Thomas Fararo
Social network

References
1. Struik, D. J. (1942). "On the Sociology of Mathematics" (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4039968
0). Science & Society. 6 (1): 58–70. ISSN 0036-8237 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0036-82
37). JSTOR 40399680 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/40399680).
 2. Edling, Christofer R. (2002). "Mathematics in Sociology" (https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/
10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.140942). Annual Review of Sociology. 28 (1): 197–220.
doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.140942 (https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.soc.28.110
601.140942). ISSN 0360-0572 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0360-0572).
3. Restivo, Sal (1985), "The Sociology of Mathematics" (http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-9
4-009-7058-8_8), The Social Relations of Physics, Mysticism, and Mathematics, Dordrecht:
Springer Netherlands, pp. 161–175, doi:10.1007/978-94-009-7058-8_8 (https://doi.org/10.10
07%2F978-94-009-7058-8_8), ISBN 978-90-277-2084-9, retrieved 2021-11-15
4. Skvoretz, John; Fararo, Thomas J. (2011). "Mathematical sociology" (https://sociopedia.isap
ortal.org/resources/resource/mathematical-sociology/). Sociopedia.isa. 1.
doi:10.1177/205684601110 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F205684601110) (inactive 31
December 2022).
5. Skvoretz, John (2000). "Looking Backwards into the Future: Mathematical Sociology Then
and Now" (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/0735-2751.00117). Sociological Theory.
18 (3): 510–517. doi:10.1111/0735-2751.00117 (https://doi.org/10.1111%2F0735-2751.0011
7). ISSN 0735-2751 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0735-2751). S2CID 144850864 (https://a
pi.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144850864).
6. Fararo, Thomas J. (1997). "Reflections on Mathematical Sociology" (https://www.jstor.org/sta
ble/684856). Sociological Forum. 12 (1): 73–101. doi:10.1023/A:1024656623205 (https://doi.
org/10.1023%2FA%3A1024656623205). ISSN 0884-8971 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/08
84-8971). JSTOR 684856 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/684856). S2CID 141186170 (https://a
pi.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:141186170).
7. * Nicolas Rashevsky.: 1947/1949 (2nd ed.). Mathematical Theory of Human Relations: An
Approach to Mathematical Biology of Social Phenomena. Bloomington, ID: Principia Press.
8. Nicolas Rashevsky. 1938/1948 (2nd ed.). Mathematical Biophysics:Physico-Mathematical
Foundations of Biology., University of Chicago Press : Chicago Press.
9. Rapoport, Anatol. (1957). "Contributions to the Theory of Random and Biased Nets." Bulletin
of Mathematical Biophysics 19: 257-277.
10. Cartwright, Dorwin & Harary, Frank. (1956). "Structural Balance: A Generalization of Heider's
Theory." Psychological Review 63:277-293.
11. Homans, George C (1950). The Human Group (https://archive.org/details/humangroup0000h
oma). New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.
12. Lazarsfeld, Paul F; Henry, Neil W (1966). Editors. Readings in Mathematical Social Science.
MIT Press.
13. "Department of Sociology | Department of Sociology Cornell Arts & Sciences" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20150924103136/http://www.soc.cornell.edu/research/mathematical_sociolo
gy.html). Archived from the original (http://www.soc.cornell.edu/research/mathematical_socio
logy.html) on 2015-09-24.
14. Restivo, Sal (1982). "Mathematics and the Sociology of Knowledge" (http://journals.sagepu
b.com/doi/10.1177/0164025982004001008). Knowledge. 4 (1): 127–144.
doi:10.1177/0164025982004001008 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0164025982004001008).
ISSN 0164-0259 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0164-0259). S2CID 145189340 (https://api.s
emanticscholar.org/CorpusID:145189340).
15. van Kerkhove, Bart; van Bendegem, Jean Paul (2007). Perspectives on mathematical
practices : bringing together philosophy of mathematics, sociology of mathematics, and
mathematics education (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/187310586). Bart van Kerkhove, Jean
Paul van Bendegem. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4020-5033-6. OCLC 187310586 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/187310586).
16. Bentley, Arthur F. (1931). "Sociology and Mathematics" (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1
111/j.1467-954X.1931.tb02499.x). The Sociological Review. a23 (3): 149–172.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.1931.tb02499.x (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-954X.1931.tb02
499.x). ISSN 0038-0261 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0038-0261). S2CID 144558897 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144558897).
17. Landri, Paolo (2007). "The Pragmatics of Passion: A Sociology of Attachment to
Mathematics" (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1350508407076152). Organization.
14 (3): 413–435. doi:10.1177/1350508407076152 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F13505084070
76152). ISSN 1350-5084 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1350-5084). S2CID 144071342 (htt
ps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144071342).
18. Coleman, James S (1954). "An expository analysis of some of Rashevsky's social behavior
models". Mathematical Thinking in the Social Sciences Edited by Paul F. Lazarsfeld (New
York: The Free Press).
19. Kossinets, Gueorgi; Watts, Duncan J (2006). "An empirical analysis of an evolving social
network" (https://semanticscholar.org/paper/0419bd22665a85aa57e2d6442c255f516181ec
22). Science. 311 (5757): 88–90. doi:10.1126/science.1116869 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2F
science.1116869). PMID 16400149 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16400149).
S2CID 8624120 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:8624120).
20. Coleman, James S; Fararo, Thomas J (1992). Rational Choice Theory: Advocacy and
Critique. Editors. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
21. White, Harrison C. 1963. An Anatomy of Kinship. Prentice-Hall
22. Wasserman, S., & Faust, K.. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. New York
and Cambridge, ENG: Cambridge University Press.
23. Rapoport, Anatol; Horvath, N J (1961). "A study of a large sociogram". Behavioral Science. 6
(4): 279–291. doi:10.1002/bs.3830060402 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fbs.3830060402).
PMID 14490358 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14490358).
24. Fararo, Thomas J; Sunshine, Morris (1964). A Study of Biased Friendship Net. Syracuse,
NY: Youth Development Center and Syracuse University Press.
25. Milgram, Stanley (May 1967). "The small world problem". Psychology Today.
26. Travers, Jeffrey; Milgram, Stanley (1969). "An experimental study of the small world
problem". Sociometry. 32 (4): 425–443. doi:10.2307/2786545 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F27
86545). JSTOR 2786545 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2786545).
27. Granovetter, Mark (1973). "The Strength of Weak Ties" (https://semanticscholar.org/paper/c9
aece346139711b8c65c618da99cdbecb162575). American Journal of Sociology. 78 (6):
1360–1380. doi:10.1086/225469 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F225469). S2CID 59578641 (htt
ps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:59578641).
28. Berger, Joseph; Cohen, Bernard P; Snell, J Laurie; Zelditch Jr, Morris (1962). Types of
Formalization (https://archive.org/details/typesofformaliza0000berg). Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin.
29. Scott, John (2017). Social Network Analysis. 4th Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30. Clark, Jon Editor (1996). James S Coleman. London, UK: Routledge. Taylor and Francis
Group. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
31. Fararo, Thomas J (2001). Social Action Systems (https://archive.org/details/socialactionsyst
00fara). Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 255 (https://archive.org/details/socialactionsyst00fara/pa
ge/n267)–278 (Ch. 11). ISBN 9780275973629.
32. Coleman, James S.; Fararo, Thomas J. (1992). Editors. Rational Choice Theory: Advocacy
and Critique. Sage.
33. Raub, Werner; Buskens, Vincent; Van Assen, Marcel (2011). "Micro-macro links and
microfoundations in sociology" (https://semanticscholar.org/paper/1e32e31daee378a06bb9
571392c9244d59d2c0a7). Journal of Mathematical Sociology. 35 (1–3): 1–25.
doi:10.1080/0022250X.2010.532263 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0022250X.2010.532263).
S2CID 1027308 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:1027308).
34. Azarian, Reza (2003). The General Sociology of Harrison White. Stockholm, Sweden:
Department of Sociology, Stockholm University. pp. 213–216. ISBN 978-91-7265-603-1.
35. Doreian, Patrick; Batagelj, Vladimir; Ferligoj, Anuska (2004). Generalized Blockmodeling.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84085-9.
36. White, Harrison C. (2002). Markets from Networks: Socioeconomic Models of Production.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
37. White, Harrison C. (1992). Identity and Control: A Structural Theory of Social Action (https://a
rchive.org/details/identitycontrols0000whit). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
ISBN 9780691003986.
38. White, Harrison C. (2008). Identity and Control. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
39. Berger, Joseph; Cohen, Bernard P.; Snell, J. Laurie; Zelditch Jr, Morris (1962). Types of
Formalization (https://archive.org/details/typesofformaliza0000berg). Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin.
40. Berger, Joseph; Zelditch Jr, Morris (2002). New Directions in Contemporary Sociological
Theory. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
41. Fararo, Thomas J. (1984). Editor. Mathematical Ideas and Sociological Theory: Current
State and Prospects. New York, NY: Gordon and Breach.
42. Fararo, Thomas J. (November 2000). "Symposium on Formal Theory". Sociological Theory.
18 (3): 475–523. doi:10.1111/0735-2751.00112 (https://doi.org/10.1111%2F0735-2751.0011
2). S2CID 145568310 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:145568310).
43. Fararo, Thomas J; Kosaka, Kenji (2003). Generating Images of Stratification: A Formal
Theory. New York: Springer.
44. Fararo, Thomas J; Doreian, Patrick (1984). "Tripartite structural analysis". Social Networks.
6 (2): 141–175. doi:10.1016/0378-8733(84)90015-7 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0378-873
3%2884%2990015-7).
45. Hummon, Norman P; Fararo, Thomas J (1995). "The emergence of computational
sociology". Journal of Mathematical Sociology. 20 (2–3): 79–87.
doi:10.1080/0022250X.1995.9990155 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0022250X.1995.999015
5).
46. Hummon, Norman P; Fararo, Thomas J (1995). "Actors and networks as objects". Social
Networks. 17: 1–26. doi:10.1016/0378-8733(94)00245-6 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0378-8
733%2894%2900245-6).
47. Fararo, Thomas (2001). Social Action Systems. Westport, CT: Praeger.
48. Fararo, Thomas J (1989). The Meaning of General Theoretical Sociology: Tradition and
Formalization (https://archive.org/details/meaningofgeneral0000fara). Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521372589.
49. "Linton C Freeman". Google Scholar. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
50. Freeman, Linton C; Roeder, Douglas; Mulholland, Robert (1979–1980). "Centrality in social
networks II. Experimental results". Social Networks. 2 (2): 119–141.
CiteSeerX 10.1.1.484.9992 (https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.484.
9992). doi:10.1016/0378-8733(79)90002-9 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0378-8733%2879%2
990002-9).
51. Freeman, Linton C (2004). The development of social network analysis: a study in the
sociology of science. North Charleston, SC: BookSurge.
52. McClelland, Kent; Fararo, Thomas (2006). Purpose, Meaning and Action: Control Systems
Theories in Sociology (https://archive.org/details/purposemeaningac00kent). New York,
N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403967985.
53. Powers, William (1975). Behavior: The Control of Perception. Chicago, IL.: Aldine.
54. Jasso, Guillermina (1980). "A new theory of distributive justice". American Sociological
Review. 45 (1): 3–32. doi:10.2307/2095239 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2095239).
JSTOR 2095239 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2095239).
55. Jasso, Guillermina. "Curriculum Vitae 2018" (http://legacy.iza.org/en/webcontent/personnel/v
itae/jasso_cv.pdf) (PDF).
56. Jasso, Gullermina (2002). "Seven secrets of doing theory". New Directions in Contemporary
Sociological Theory Edited by J Berger and M Zelditch Jr: 317–342.
57. Skvoretz, John; Fararo, Thomas J; Agneessens, F (2004). "Advances in biased net
theory:Definitions, derivations, and estimations". Social Networks. 26 (2): 113–139.
doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2004.01.005 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.socnet.2004.01.005).
58. Skvoretz, John; Fararo, Thomas J (1996). "Status and participation in task groups: A
dynamic network model". American Journal of Sociology. 101 (5): 1366–1414.
doi:10.1086/230826 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F230826). S2CID 144193428 (https://api.se
manticscholar.org/CorpusID:144193428).
59. Skvoretz, John; Willer, Dave (1993). "Exclusion and power: a test of four theories of power in
exchange networks". American Sociological Review. 58 (6): 801–818.
CiteSeerX 10.1.1.295.2551 (https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.295.
2551). doi:10.2307/2095952 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2095952). JSTOR 2095952 (https://
www.jstor.org/stable/2095952).
60. Skvoretz, John; Mayhew, Bruce (1988). "The structure of stratified systems and the structure
of mobility: a first approximation to a structural theory of vertical mobility". Journal of
Mathematical Sociology. 13 (3): 193–242. doi:10.1080/0022250X.1988.9990033 (https://doi.
org/10.1080%2F0022250X.1988.9990033).
61. Skvoretz, John (2000). "Looking backwards into the future: Mathematical sociology then and
now". Sociological Theory. 18 (3): 510–517. doi:10.1111/0735-2751.00117 (https://doi.org/1
0.1111%2F0735-2751.00117). S2CID 144850864 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusI
D:144850864).

Further reading
Bartos, Otomar. 1967. "Simple Models of Group Behavior." Columbia University Press.
Berger, Joseph. 2000. "Theory and Formalization: Some Reflections on Experience (https://j
ournals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/0735-2751.00113)." Sociological Theory 18(3):482-
489.
Berger, Joseph, Bernard P. Cohen, J. Laurie Snell, and Morris Zelditch, Jr. 1962. Types of
Formalization in Small Group Research. Houghton-Mifflin.
Berger, Joseph and Morris Zelditch Jr. 2002. New Directions in Contemporary Sociological
Theory Rowman and Littlefield.
Bonacich, Philip and Philip Lu. Introduction to Mathematical Sociology (https://books.google.
com/books?id=kXSk1CcpGG8C). Princeton University Press.
Coleman, James S. 1964. An Introduction to Mathematical Sociology. Free Press.
_____. 1990. Foundations of Social Theory. Harvard University Press.
Doreian, Patrick, Vladimir Batagelj, and Anuska Ferligoj. 2004. Generalized Blockmodeling.
Cambridge University Press.
Edling, Christofer R. 2002. "Mathematics in Sociology," Annual Review of Sociology.
 Fararo, Thomas J. 1973. Mathematical Sociology. Wiley. Reprinted by Krieger, 1978.
_____. 1984. Editor. Mathematical Ideas and Sociological Theory. Gordon and Breach.
_____. 1989. The Meaning of General Theoretical Sociology: Tradition and Formalization.
Cambridge University Press.
Freeman, Linton C. 2004. The Development of Social Network Analysis. Empirical Press.
Heise, David R. 1979. Understanding Events: Affect and the Construction of Social Action.
Cambridge University Press.
Helbing, Dirk. 1995. Quantitative Sociodynamics. Kluwer Academics.
Lave, Charles and James March. 1975. An Introduction to Models in the Social Sciences.
Harper and Row.
Leik, Robert K. and Barbara F. Meeker. 1975. Mathematical Sociology. Prentice-Hall.
Rapoport, Anatol. 1983. Mathematical Models in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Wiley.
Nicolas Rashevsky.: 1965, The Representation of Organisms in Terms of Predicates,
Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 27: 477-491.
Nicolas Rashevsky.: 1969, Outline of a Unified Approach to Physics, Biology and
Sociology., Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 31: 159-198.
Rosen, Robert. 1972. "Tribute to Nicolas Rashevsky 1899-1972." Progress in Theoretical
Biology 2.
Leik, Robert K. and Barbara F. Meeker. 1975. Mathematical Sociology. Prentice-Hall.
Simon, Herbert A. 1952. "A Formal Theory of Interaction in Social Groups." American
Sociological Review 17:202-212.
Wasserman, Stanley and Katherine Faust. 1994. Social Network Analysis: Methods and
Applications. Cambridge University Press.
White, Harrison C. 1963. An Anatomy of Kinship. Prentice-Hall.
_____. 1970. Chains of Opportunity. Harvard University Press.
_____. 1992. Identity and Control: A Structural Theory of Action. Princeton University Press.
_____. 2008. Identity and Control: How Social Formations Emerge. 2nd Ed. (Revised)
Princeton University Press.

External links
John Skvoretz; Thomas J Fararo (1952). "Mathematical sociology" (http://www.sagepub.net/i
sa/resources/pdf/MathematicalSociology.pdf) (PDF). Sociopedia.isa. 170 (4314): 3.
Bibcode:1952Natur.170....3G (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1952Natur.170....3G).
doi:10.1038/170003a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F170003a0). S2CID 4181915 (https://api.s
emanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4181915).
Home Page of Mathematical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association (ht
tps://archive.today/20121215023015/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/groups/mathsoc/index.
php)
The Society for Mathematical Biology (http://www.smb.org)
Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02558813)
European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (ESMTB) (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20090605000146/http://www.esmtb.org/news/news.htm)
Mathematical Sociology Section Home Page (https://archive.today/20121215023015/http://w
ww.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/groups/mathsoc/index.php)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mathematical_sociology&oldid=1157429290"