From the beginning, the systems research movement has shown a high
potential for offering a conceptual framework for the understanding of
social systems. Much of this potential has been realized, but a major
gap remains with regard to operational investigative aids. Developments
of the last ten years with a method- ological orientation and emphasis
seem finally to be filling this gap. The purpose of this book is to
describe the most advanced of these developments and to make them
available to a wider audience. The emphasis is on developments that are
primarily oriented toward interaction with expertise in the social
sciences and that thus hold the most promise for social systems
investigation. In particu- lar, attempts have been made to provide
substantiation and illustration of three main points: (1) the common
motivation and essential integrability that systems research provides
for developments and considerations along a very broad spec- trum of
interests; (2) the very diverse nature of the types and forms of
considera- tions that may be meaningfully integrated; and (3) the
operational and usable nature that developments in systems methodology
represent for research in the social sciences. The book is divided into
three parts with a generally increasing degree of specificity. The first
part (Chapters 1, 2, and 3) deals with foundational issues associated
with modeling and methodology as areas worthy of study in their ix X
PREFACE own right.