Complex structures and composite models - An essay on methodology (Q1071699)

In this paper we address the deficiency of most state-of-the-art tools for modelling methodology inherent in the fact that most models of social phenomena concentrate on either quantitative features or qualitative features to the exclusion of the other. We set forth a program that treats models of complex social phenomena as symbolic entities: \[ Com({\mathcal M})=<V^*({\mathcal M}),\quad wff({\mathcal M}),\vdash,\quad L(Ax),\quad ext(\Sigma),\quad P(Ax),\quad T({\mathcal M}),\quad \ell_{tr},\quad {\mathcal M}(Ax)I,\quad {\mathcal M}(Ax)II> \] Com(\({\mathcal M})\) is defined within a first-order language and is comprised of both logical and proper sets of axioms. We term entities of the form Com(\({\mathcal M})\) composite structures and we show that these structures permit the distinct, but interrelated, portrayal of the quantitative and qualitative features of a given model within a unified framework of discourse. The possibility of extending this framework to composite structures for N-participant models within the theory of games and mathematical economics is briefly discussed in addition to proving that the sentential theories associated with structures of the form Com(\({\mathcal M})\) in specific instances is consistent.