Edward Brent
Biographic Data
| ID | 196662 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Edward Brent |
| GIVEN NAMES | Edward |
| FAMILY NAME | Brent |
| SIGNATURE | BRENT E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Missouri |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 40 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 171 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 40 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1974 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Sociology and Computing: Introduction to This Special Issue
The goal of this special issue was to include high-quality articles covering the complete spectrum of computing in sociology. The result is nine creative articles from three continents addressing a wide range of issues, including inequality in the form of the so-called digital divide, the use of computers in qualitative research and in teaching sociology, the relationship between research methods and the technologies of the Internet, and a histor…
Feeling the Beat”: Intelligent Coding Advice from Metaknowledge in Qualitative Research
There are few tasks in research more onerous than coding qualitative data. Ironically, the coded data in a qualitative research database themselves represent a great store of knowledge largely untapped by traditional qualitative analysis programs. By “feeling the beat” in data and by using the information that is implicit in coded cases (the metaknowledge), we can develop more intelligent qualitative analysis programs that can offer active assist…
Sociology: A Computational Approach to Sociological Explanations
The capacity to explain important elements of social life is central both to the development of sociological theory and to teaching sociology. This research seeks to expand our understanding of sociological explanation through a computational approach. Explanations commonly encountered in introductory sociology texts are used to develop a typology of explanatory forms. A computational strategy that represents sociological knowledge using a combin…
Sociology: Modeling Social Interaction With Autonomous Agents
Intelligent agents offer a promising new means for modeling social interaction. This article reviews the literature on intelligent agents, focusing on the development of agents to model various forms of social interaction. It provides a framework for understanding the variety of work on agents and how that work applies to social interaction. This framework includes a breakdown of the ways in which agents can be applied to social interaction, the …
Computers in the Undergraduate Classroom: Lessons From the First 2,000 Students
College administrators around the world are embracing the use of computer technology in the classroom; strongly encouraging faculty to incorporate these new technologies into their teaching; and redirecting institutional resources to provide digital classrooms, student computer labs, fiber-optic backbones, and Internet access. Yet, our understanding of what is required to successfully incorporate computers into teaching and learning is surprising…
Electronic communication and sociology: Looking backward, thinking ahead, careening toward the next millennium
Expert Systems and the Representation of Knowledge
Reflexions sur les methodes adoptees dans differents ouvrages pour resoudre le probleme de l'acquisition et de la representation des connaissances dans les systemes experts
Expert Systems and their Role in Computational Sociology
This article examines in detail some of the principal strategies used by expert systems to represent and reason about knowledge. It identifies strengths and weaknesses of these different strategies, with particular reference to sociological knowledge as illustrated by the work of Erving Goffman. The article ends with a summary of the current status of expert systems in sociology and prospects for using expert systems to help create a systematic f…
Disambiguating verbal comments in social interaction: A computer model of meaning
This paper describes a computer program for disambiguating the meaning of verbal acts in social interaction. The program was implemented using artificial intelligence techniques, representing utterances by frames, designing separate agents employing procedural rules to infer values of each coding dimension, and sharing information through a blackboard. The computer algorithms are discussed and illustrated with examples, then results of an empiric…
Artificial Social Intelligence
Sociologists have begun to explore the gains for theory and research that might be achieved by artificial intelligence technology: symbolic processors, expert systems, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and classifier systems. The first major accomplishments of artificial social intelligence (ASI) have been in the realm of theory, where these techniques have inspired new theories as well as helping to render existing theories more rigorous. Two…
Validating A Computer Assessment of Housing for Older Adults: An Application of Design Knowledge to Promote Independent Living
The gap between gerontological design research and interior design practice that can apply this knowledge is addressed. A validation study was conducted of the Elderly Resident Housing Assessment Program (ERHAP) to test the hypothesis that a computerized artificial intelligence system is a comprehensive and reliable home evaluation tool for identifying housing inadequacies among older residents. The following research questions were asked: (1) Wh…
Computational Sociology: Reinventing Sociology for the Next Millennium
This paper proposes a computational approach to sociology. I argue that computational sociology is not just another specialty within an already fragmented discipline but that it provides an opportunity to integrate traditionally disparate approaches within sociology and provides a foundation for transforming sociology in the 2Ist century. I discuss important changes in computing that offer new opportunities for sociology and illustrate those poin…
Older Adults Residing in their Own Home: Prioritizing Housing Inadequacies
A housing assessment centered on issues of safety, function, and comfort was conducted in the homes of 90 older adults. Findings document the frequency of home-environment liabilities and the location of housing inadequacies. Housing inadequacies relating to gross motor safety are the greatest concern and occur most frequently in the bathroom and kitchen. Included is a theoretical model that illustrates a priority for housing inadequacies by type…
Computer Applications in the Social Sciences
Methodologist's Assistant
Sociological computing: An opportunity missed
Practical Research: Planning and Design
Brief Contents PART I THE FUNDAMENTALS Chapter 1 THE NATURE AND TOOLS OF RESEARCH PART II FOCUSING YOUR RESEARCH EFFORTS Chapter 2 THE PROBLEM: THE HEART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS Chapter 3 REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE Chapter 4 PLANNING YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT Chapter 5 WRITING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL PART III QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Chapter 6 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH Chapter 7 EXPERIMENTAL, QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL, AND EX POST FACTO DESIGNS Chapter 8 ANALYZ…
New Technology in Sociology: Practical Applications in Research and Work
When technology has been applied in business environments, its justification has usually been cast in terms of saving time or saving money. In the social sciences, the justification must be different; the viability of sociology as a profession, for example, will not be enhanced by cost reductions. The focus in this volume is on a different bottom line: the quality and content of work
Computing in Sociology: Promise and Practice
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 spe…
Erving: A Program to Teach Sociological Reasoning from the Dramaturgical Perspective
Edward E. Brent, Jr., Jack Glazier, Keith Jamtgaard, Ed Wetzel, Peter M. Hall, Michael Dalecki, Abdulah Bah, Erving: A Program to Teach Sociological Reasoning from the Dramaturgical Perspective, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 38-48
Designing Social Science Research with Expert Systems
Le developpement des systemes experts en informatique et ses consequences sur la definition et le deroulement des projets de recherche en sciences sociales
New Approaches to Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence Programming
The author provides an updated review of expert systems and languages available to social scientists, emphasizing new programs and new implementations of well-established models. Practical recommendations are made for social scientists wishing to embark on this much-publicized but infrequently used type of research. Keywords: expert systems, artificial intelligence, hypertext
Is there a role for artificial intelligence in sociological theorizing
Introduction to the special issue: Graduate education: “The promise” lost
Introduction To The Special Issue: Sociology and social policy
When prophecy bends: The preference–expectation link in U.S. presidential elections, 1952–1980
Dove-hawk placements in the 1968 election: Application of social judgment and balance theories
Qualitative computing: Approaches and issues
Subjective agreement with the presidential candidates of 1976 and 1980
The Regulation of Interaction by Police: A Systems View of Taking Charge
Scholars agree that a preoccupation of police is the maintenance of their authority during encounters with civilians. There is little knowledge of how they seek to do this. Using a subset of process data from a large, quantitative, observational field study of police, the authors analyze it from the perspective of general systems theory. They find that authority is maintained in most cases by much more subtle means than past studies have identifi…
Practical Research: Planning and Design
Brief Contents PART I THE FUNDAMENTALS Chapter 1 THE NATURE AND TOOLS OF RESEARCH PART II FOCUSING YOUR RESEARCH EFFORTS Chapter 2 THE PROBLEM: THE HEART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS Chapter 3 REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE Chapter 4 PLANNING YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT Chapter 5 WRITING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL PART III QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Chapter 6 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH Chapter 7 EXPERIMENTAL, QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL, AND EX POST FACTO DESIGNS Chapter 8 ANALYZ…
Knowledge-based systems: A qualitative formalism
Membership group, reference group, and the attribution of attitudes to groups
Computing in Qualitative Sociology: Guest column
Erving: A Program to Teach Sociological Reasoning from the Dramaturgical Perspective
Edward E. Brent, Jr., Jack Glazier, Keith Jamtgaard, Ed Wetzel, Peter M. Hall, Michael Dalecki, Abdulah Bah, Erving: A Program to Teach Sociological Reasoning from the Dramaturgical Perspective, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 38-48
Assessing Research Methodology: The Structure of Professional Assessments of Methodology
This paper reports the development and application of a method for evaluating the methodology of social science research. In this study, 11 social scientists rated the methodology of 126 federally sponsored, social science research projects. Written documentation from each research project was divided into three packets, representing three stages of the research process: proposal, interim report, and completed research. Each project was independe…
Feeling the Beat”: Intelligent Coding Advice from Metaknowledge in Qualitative Research
There are few tasks in research more onerous than coding qualitative data. Ironically, the coded data in a qualitative research database themselves represent a great store of knowledge largely untapped by traditional qualitative analysis programs. By “feeling the beat” in data and by using the information that is implicit in coded cases (the metaknowledge), we can develop more intelligent qualitative analysis programs that can offer active assist…
New Technology in Sociology: Practical Applications in Research and Work
When technology has been applied in business environments, its justification has usually been cast in terms of saving time or saving money. In the social sciences, the justification must be different; the viability of sociology as a profession, for example, will not be enhanced by cost reductions. The focus in this volume is on a different bottom line: the quality and content of work
Computing in Sociology: Promise and Practice
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 spe…
Sociology: Modeling Social Interaction With Autonomous Agents
Intelligent agents offer a promising new means for modeling social interaction. This article reviews the literature on intelligent agents, focusing on the development of agents to model various forms of social interaction. It provides a framework for understanding the variety of work on agents and how that work applies to social interaction. This framework includes a breakdown of the ways in which agents can be applied to social interaction, the …
Electronic communication and sociology: Looking backward, thinking ahead, careening toward the next millennium
Disambiguating verbal comments in social interaction: A computer model of meaning
This paper describes a computer program for disambiguating the meaning of verbal acts in social interaction. The program was implemented using artificial intelligence techniques, representing utterances by frames, designing separate agents employing procedural rules to infer values of each coding dimension, and sharing information through a blackboard. The computer algorithms are discussed and illustrated with examples, then results of an empiric…
Sociological computing: An opportunity missed
Is there a role for artificial intelligence in sociological theorizing
Introduction to the special issue: Graduate education: “The promise” lost
Sociology: A Computational Approach to Sociological Explanations
The capacity to explain important elements of social life is central both to the development of sociological theory and to teaching sociology. This research seeks to expand our understanding of sociological explanation through a computational approach. Explanations commonly encountered in introductory sociology texts are used to develop a typology of explanatory forms. A computational strategy that represents sociological knowledge using a combin…
Expert Systems and the Representation of Knowledge
Reflexions sur les methodes adoptees dans differents ouvrages pour resoudre le probleme de l'acquisition et de la representation des connaissances dans les systemes experts
Computational Sociology: Reinventing Sociology for the Next Millennium
This paper proposes a computational approach to sociology. I argue that computational sociology is not just another specialty within an already fragmented discipline but that it provides an opportunity to integrate traditionally disparate approaches within sociology and provides a foundation for transforming sociology in the 2Ist century. I discuss important changes in computing that offer new opportunities for sociology and illustrate those poin…
New Approaches to Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence Programming
The author provides an updated review of expert systems and languages available to social scientists, emphasizing new programs and new implementations of well-established models. Practical recommendations are made for social scientists wishing to embark on this much-publicized but infrequently used type of research. Keywords: expert systems, artificial intelligence, hypertext
Dove-hawk placements in the 1968 election: Application of social judgment and balance theories
Assessing Research Methodology: The Structure of Professional Assessments of Methodology
This paper reports the development and application of a method for evaluating the methodology of social science research. In this study, 11 social scientists rated the methodology of 126 federally sponsored, social science research projects. Written documentation from each research project was divided into three packets, representing three stages of the research process: proposal, interim report, and completed research. Each project was independe…
The Socialization of Almost Everyone: A 'Groundless' Theory
The Regulation of Interaction by Police: A Systems View of Taking Charge
Scholars agree that a preoccupation of police is the maintenance of their authority during encounters with civilians. There is little knowledge of how they seek to do this. Using a subset of process data from a large, quantitative, observational field study of police, the authors analyze it from the perspective of general systems theory. They find that authority is maintained in most cases by much more subtle means than past studies have identifi…
Membership group, reference group, and the attribution of attitudes to groups
Using Log-Linear Tests of Fit for a Transactional Systems Model
For the past decade the Interact System Model (ISM) of Fisher and Hawes (1971) has been used in conjunction with traditional statistical tests of fit of discrete-time, discrete-state Markov models to examine small group processes of communication. The authors argue that the ISM is an inappropriate model of interpersonal and noninterpersonal communication processes, in part because it takes no account of nonverbal messages. As an alternative, they…
Going Through Medical School and Considering the Choice of Family Medicine
No abstract available for this article
Subjective agreement with the presidential candidates of 1976 and 1980
When prophecy bends: The preference–expectation link in U.S. presidential elections, 1952–1980
Policing: A Social Behaviorist Perspective
Criminal Justice: A Community Relations Approach
Qualitative computing: Approaches and issues
Common Response Patterns of Medical Students in Interviews of Hospitalized Patients
Sixty-eight interviews of hospitalized patients by freshmen medical students were examined for common response patterns. Response profiles were constructed for each medical student and subjected to cluster analysis. Four common response patterns were identified: Questioning Facilitators, Declaring Facilitators, Elaborators, and Prompters. The four patterns are distinguished by the different balance they strike between directing the interview and …
Knowledge-based systems: A qualitative formalism
Introduction to the special issue: Graduate education: “The promise” lost
Introduction To The Special Issue: Sociology and social policy
Computing in Qualitative Sociology: Guest column
New Approaches to Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence Programming
The author provides an updated review of expert systems and languages available to social scientists, emphasizing new programs and new implementations of well-established models. Practical recommendations are made for social scientists wishing to embark on this much-publicized but infrequently used type of research. Keywords: expert systems, artificial intelligence, hypertext
Is there a role for artificial intelligence in sociological theorizing
Computing in Sociology: Promise and Practice
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 spe…
Erving: A Program to Teach Sociological Reasoning from the Dramaturgical Perspective
Edward E. Brent, Jr., Jack Glazier, Keith Jamtgaard, Ed Wetzel, Peter M. Hall, Michael Dalecki, Abdulah Bah, Erving: A Program to Teach Sociological Reasoning from the Dramaturgical Perspective, Teaching Sociology, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 38-48
Designing Social Science Research with Expert Systems
Le developpement des systemes experts en informatique et ses consequences sur la definition et le deroulement des projets de recherche en sciences sociales
Practical Research: Planning and Design
Brief Contents PART I THE FUNDAMENTALS Chapter 1 THE NATURE AND TOOLS OF RESEARCH PART II FOCUSING YOUR RESEARCH EFFORTS Chapter 2 THE PROBLEM: THE HEART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS Chapter 3 REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE Chapter 4 PLANNING YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT Chapter 5 WRITING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL PART III QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Chapter 6 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH Chapter 7 EXPERIMENTAL, QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL, AND EX POST FACTO DESIGNS Chapter 8 ANALYZ…
New Technology in Sociology: Practical Applications in Research and Work
When technology has been applied in business environments, its justification has usually been cast in terms of saving time or saving money. In the social sciences, the justification must be different; the viability of sociology as a profession, for example, will not be enhanced by cost reductions. The focus in this volume is on a different bottom line: the quality and content of work
Older Adults Residing in their Own Home: Prioritizing Housing Inadequacies
A housing assessment centered on issues of safety, function, and comfort was conducted in the homes of 90 older adults. Findings document the frequency of home-environment liabilities and the location of housing inadequacies. Housing inadequacies relating to gross motor safety are the greatest concern and occur most frequently in the bathroom and kitchen. Included is a theoretical model that illustrates a priority for housing inadequacies by type…
Sociology (27 works) · Computer Science (24 works) · Psychology (17 works) · Social science (15 works) · Epistemology (14 works) · Artificial Intelligence (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Engineering (10 works) · Management science (10 works) · Social Psychology (10 works)