Knowledge-based systems: A qualitative formalism

Brent, Edward

doi:10.1007/bf00988401

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…Blank (1988) uses an expert system shell, VP-EXPER T to represent Barrington Moore's Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy as a series of If-Then rules to both test the logical consistency of the theory and facilitate its understanding. Brent (1986), Brent et al (1989) and Brent & Jamtgaard ( 1989) use the Prolog programming language to elaborate and extend an existing sociological theory, the dramaturgical perspective of Erving Goffman. In this work the goal is not so much to directly translate Goffman's theory into a computer program.…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Computing in Sociology: Promise and Practice

Brent¹

1989

Social Science Computer Review

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The state of a social science discipline should be judged by the vitality of its computing subfield, which is reflected in the quality of its software. Computing progress in sociology is evident in new software for theory, data management, and instruction. Constraints including inadequate resources, problematic software, and inadequate rewards for computing contributions prohibit most sociologists from using the most innovative software. Some specific recommendations are offered for improving sociology's computing community.Before the invention of computers, an academic discipline was evaluated primarily on the quality of its ideas, books, and articles. Now it is necessary to add computing contributions to this list of scholarship that must be evaluated. For a social science discipline such as sociology that depends extensively upon computing to conduct its research, both qualitative and quantitative, the stature of its computing subfield is a major facet of its scientific and scholarly productivity. Our exercise in assessing the stature of sociological computing is not an idle pastime, but a serious attempt to determine where sociology stands with respect to computing and how sociology can be advanced through improvements in its computing subculture.Our major dilemma is that few guidelines exist on how to evaluate computer-related contributions. A number of institutions have added software development to their criteria for promotion and tenure (Cartwright & Cartwright, 1987), but little direction has been offered on procedures to use in this evaluation. A recent handbook on tenure and promotion review procedures (Miller, 1987) does not even mention the evaluation of software or computer work. There are some remedies to this problem, and we will return to them in the last section.To assess the status of computing in any discipline, it seems most logical to look at the quality of its software. The quality of software pro-

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Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Computing in Sociology: Promise and Practice

Brent¹

1989

Social Science Computer Review

Self Cite

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“…It was shown, that the verbal assumptions of Simmel were not sufficient to deduce the hypothesis. Brent (1986) Further, a set of new theorems were discovered and some postulated conclusions could not be deduced from the assumptions.…”

Section: Theory Driven Ai-modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most important motivation for the use of knowledged based models was therefore the possibility to formalize and explicate verbal theories which are beyond quantitative mathematical modelling. For Brent (1986) the greatest appeal of these programs is their claim to be applicable to problems not having tractable solutions based on mathematical reasoning.…”

Section: Ai Based Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the eighties a few sociologists, social psychologists and anthropologists have discoverd the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for avoiding or solving these problems (for example Brent 1986;Sylvan/Glassner 1985;Read/Behrens 1989; for an overview and general introduction: Benfer/Brent/Furbee 1991). AI offers concepts, techniques and tools to reduce the three dilemmas and leads to a lot of additional advantages.…”

Section: Ai Based Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• Explication of logical features For Brent (1986), the expert system may play a role analogously to that of a good research assistant, checking the logic of the researcher, tracing out implications of changing an assumption, answering questions about its reasoning, and identifying the source of particular bits of knowledge. Of course, an AI approach has not only advantages but has also some difficulties and problems.…”

Section: Ai Based Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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