Social Diffusion References & Bibliography
Social Diffusion Bibliography Books Papers   Details of Models Limited Enthusiasm  Births, Deaths & Reversion    Details of Results Summary of Results Short Term Revival  Long Term Growth Long Term Decline   References & Bibliography  Mathematics of Church Growth Church Growth  Revival  System Dynamics  Sociology of Religion Epidemics  Social Diffusion Publications Articles	Books The book by Coleman became the definitive volume in mathematical sociology. He put forward models of innovation diffusion which have been extensively investigated since. It is particularly relevant for the church growth models as he proposed the use of the epidemic equations for modelling social diffusion, i.e. the time period of those spreading the phenomena is limited. Bartholomew gives stochastic models of such diffusion. Bartholomew DJ (1982), Stochastic Models for Social Processes, Wiley NY. Coleman JS (1964), Introduction to Mathematical Sociology, The Free Press of Glencoe NY. Gilbert N & Troitzsch (1999), Simulation for the Social Scientist, The Open University PA. Papers The most extensively modelled social diffusion phenomena is the diffusion of technological innovations. Such models are also used in marketing. The simplest model is that of Fisher & Pry where, unlike the church growth model, those responsible for spread the innovation do so indefinitely. the well used bass model is an extension of Fisher-Pry that includes the effects of advertising. A few applications of diffusion models to other social phenomena exist, but few have been pursued beyond the original basic model. Baggs I & Freedman HI (1990) A Mathematical Model for the Dynamics of Interactions between a Unilingual and a Bilingual population: Persistence versus Extinction, Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 16(1), 51-75. Burbeck SL, Raine WJ & Stark MJA (1979), The Dynamics of Riot Growth: An Epidemiological Approach, Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 6, 1-22. Granovetter M & Song R (1983), Threshold Models of Diffusion and Collective Behaviour, Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 9, 165-179. Kumar V & Kumar U (1992), Innovation Diffusion: Some New Technological Substitution Models, Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 17(2-3), 175-194. Mahajan V, Muller E & Bass FM (1990), New Product Diffusion models in Marketing, Journal of Marketing, 54, 1-26. Return to Top