The papers collected in this volume focus on new perspectives on individuals, society, and science, specifically in the field of socio-economic systems. The book is the result of a scientific collaboration among experts from “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi (Romania), “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy), "University of Defence" of Brno (Czech Republic), and "Pablo de Olavide" University of Sevilla (Spain). The heterogeneity of the contributions presented in this volume reflects the variety and complexity of social phenomena. The book is divided in four Sections as follows. The first Section deals with recent trends in social decisions. Specifically, it aims to understand which are the driving forces of social decisions. The second Section focuses on the social and public sphere. Indeed, it is oriented on recent developments in social systems and control. Trends in quantitative theories and models are described in Section 3, where many new formal, mathematical-statistical tools for modelling complex social phenomena are presented. Finally, Section 4 shows integrative theories and models; particularly, it deals with the ethical, cultural and political approaches to social science, the pedagogical methods, and the relationship between literature, politics, religion and society. The book is addressed to sociologists, philosophers, mathematicians, statisticians, people interested in ethics, and specialists in the fields of communication, social, and political sciences.

This book presents a systemic perspective on the broadly perceived problem of social care, meant in terms of a network engaging balanced resources and actors to assure the functionality, in an integrative approach. The approach involves individual, institutional and organizational structures, at the micro, mezzo- and macro-levels, in their interrelations, with proper contexts for understandings, interpretations and actions by stakeholders. The papers presented suggest ways of changes, involving even participant actors as changing agents, taking into account evolving behaviors and human relations, policies and inter-institutional frameworks, from many points of view. In the first part, various aspects, notably economic and emotional, of innovative and integrated approaches to long-term care are dealt with. Different aspects are considered exemplified by legal, educational, economic, environmental, cultural and those related to the perception of aging, labor market for the elderly, perceived quality of life, etc. The planning and management of social services are discussed in terms of a functional, and effective and efficient system, with the identification and analysis of actors and processes, and transformation policies. This is done at the local, regional and global levels.

This book concisely presents a broad range of models and theories on social systems. Because of the huge spectrum of topics involving social systems, various issues related to Mathematics, Statistics, Teaching, Social Science, and Economics are discussed. In an effort to introduce the subject to a wider audience, this volume, part of the series “Studies in Systems, Decision and Control”, equally addresses the needs of mathematicians, statisticians, sociologists and philosophers. The studies examined here are divided into four parts. The first part, “Perusing the Minds Behind Scientific Discoveries”, traces the winding path of Syamal K. Sen and Ravi P. Agarwal’s scholarship throughout history, and most importantly, the thought processes that allowed each of them to master their subject. The second part covers “Theories in Social Systems” and the third discusses “Models in Social Systems”, while the fourth and final part is dedicated to “Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences”. Given its breadth of coverage, the book will offer inquisitive readers a valuable point of departure for exploring these rich, vast, and ever-expanding fields of knowledge.

The human aspect plays an important role in the social sciences. The behaviour of people has become a vital area of focus in the social sciences as well. Recent Trends in Social and Behaviour Sciences contains papers that were originally presented at the International Congress on Interdisciplinary Behavior and Social Sciences, held 4-5 November 201

This book presents selected examples of digitalization in the age of digital change. It is divided into two sections: “Digital Innovation,” which features new technologies that stimulate and enable new business opportunities; and “Digital Business Transformation,” comprising business and management concepts that employ specific technological solutions for their practical implementation. Combining new insights from research, teaching and management, including digital transformation, e-business, knowledge representation, human-computer interaction, and business optimization, the book highlights the breadth of research as well as its meaningful and relevant transfer into practice. It is intended for academics seeking inspiration, as well as for leaders wanting to tap the potential of the latest trends to take society and their business to the next level.

Social networking focuses on social relationships (eg: friendships) diagrammed as nodes (points) and links (ties or edges between points). Social network analysis (SNA) examines features of such relationships within a social networking system, including how such social interactions change over time. SNA can measure and map connectedness or flow (eg: information, resources, etc.) within and across individuals, groups, and organisations. SNA can examine these ties in virtual- or geo-temporal spaces -- yielding rich mixed methods possibilities and wide application to a host of scientific phenomena. The advent of social media established a cultural meme that carries social network concepts to broader public audiences, and that reinforces SNAs path to be a powerful interdisciplinary approach. Google Ngram viewer shows the use of social network analysis in the corpus of books burgeoned in the late 1960s, and has continued to grow exponentially since the 1990s. The conceptual and methodological reach now extends both widely -- across scientific disciplines -- and deeply -- as field advances arise with the rapid pace of new inquiries.Facing this tremendous promulgation and diversification of SNA, this book distills essential frontiers across fields. Introducing emerging issues in the application of social network theory and SNA, and how these can or will be addressed, each chapter illuminates new trends or applications of a social network approach that can have wide potential impact in other disciplines. Conceptual advances (eg: applying the concepts of social networks such as peer influence on disease management and treatment adherence), as well as novel analytic approaches for studying properties of social networks are highlighted.

An exercise of interdisciplinarity at the crossroads of humans and the environment--this could be one definition of human ecology, as it is demonstrated within this book. Examples of different branches of human ecology are shown as feasible alternatives to understand the interactions of human culture and behaviour with the natural environment from all parts of the world. Current trends, ranging from climate change to ecological knowledge and environmental co-management are deeply exploited, using a diversified array of empirical case studies. Theoretical aspects are included and examined in every case, including the evolution of culture, values and webs of information within cultures. The central theme approaches and reveals the social, cultural, economic, and ecological processes which link human beings to their environment. From a mixture of practice and theory we emerge with alternatives to mitigate and prevent the accelerating negative changes currently witnessed on our planet, where increasingly fewer people are safe. More importantly, this book provides examples showing how those whose lives are deeply rooted on a direct natural resource dependency are the first to be affected by the global trend of environmental degradation. Small-scale fishers, farmers and herders from the tropics and from cold regions have their livelihood affected by global changes, regional politics and cultural exchanges. Whether and how they will survive, adapt, or embody such changes is not known and this is one more reason to include and involve local groups when searching for sustainable solutions. In a changing world, exploring current threats and impacts of human actions on the environment is a necessity, but bringing about alternatives, some of them already part of traditional human practices, is urgent and can turn to be a promising solution. Anthropology, sociology, and ecology come together in this book, where the unifying goal of theorizing and practising interdisciplinarity in human ecology is shown by, closely tracking examples of current trends and developments. This book is a harvest from the XV International Meeting of the Society for Human Ecology, engaging over 200 people from 27 countries from all continents, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 4-7, 2007, organized by A. Begossi and P. Lopes, with the support of the Fisheries and Food Institute (FIFO) and the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). This volume ends by indicating several lines of thought and of analyses on current subjects, as follows: sustainability in different cultural contexts and perspectives, methods towards approaching sustainable systems, and current global concerns. Those include agriculture in tropical areas (slash-and-burn practices), climate change, and nature and human behavioural patterns, among others.