Volume 50, Nº 5 (2016)

Description of the structure of social systems, which is the ultimate goal of empirical social research, presents a special difficulty in the case of qualitative (non-quantitative) data due to the difficulties of application of formal tools. Analysis of such data using the means of a JSM-type intelligent system (JSM Socio) allows one to create the structure of society based on a study of a system of relations that characterize it. In this paper we formulate and prove the conditions under which the potential hypotheses of the direct and inverse method of similarity in the JSM-method turn out to be real hypotheses. This allows for the selection of strategies of JSM-reasoning that are relevant to the available data.

This paper focuses on the principles and capabilities of a virtual communication system that facilitates new forms of scientific communications and evaluation of research productivity, as well as the specifics of its implementation based on the major Socionet open access research-information system. The innovative potential of the discussed environment is shaped by the use of a multi-aspect taxonomy of semantic linkages between the system’s information objects, their online declaration by the users, and the availability of a service to notify the authors of the objects being linked together of such event.

An approach to the enhancement of mental alertness in order to extract implicit knowledge and convert it into new information is considered. The approach is based on multifaceted analysis of certain objects, situations, problems, ideas, or confusions that appear to be important for a person or a legal entity. The distinctive feature of the approach is the formulation of a large number of “relevant” statements at the initial stage. Each of these statements is used to construct (1) a set of ”factors,” or statements that express the causes, the pretexts, and the conditions (including starting and boundary conditions) and (2) a set of “effects,” or statements that present the consequences, the results, the conclusions, novel requirements and/or suggestions concerning the conditions of implementation, etc. Each factor and effect is subsequently considered as a statement that requires analysis of the same type as the primary statements. The procedure is repeated until the factors and effects that were detected become limited by factors that are not amenable to further analysis or effects that can be regarded as boundary effects relatively to all other effects. The analytical procedure has been validated and is used to solve diverse tasks of pedagogics, to resolve conflicts, and to conduct research.