What are their types and classification. Classification and its role in cognition. Comparative characteristics of hierarchical and facet classification methods

Classification is a logical process of distributing any set (concepts, properties, phenomena, objects) into categories (subsets) of different levels depending on certain characteristics and selected methods of division.

Classification object

According to the trade classification, the following groups of food products are distinguished: bakery products, fruits and vegetables, confectionery, dairy and butter, and sausages, eggs, edible fats, tobacco products.

Food products are divided into grocery and gastronomic. Groceries include cereals, flour, yeast, pasta, dried vegetables and fruits, coffee, salt, spices, sugar, starch, food concentrates and others, i.e. products that require additional cooking before consumption. Gastronomic products include ready-to-eat products without cooking or with enhanced taste properties: (cheeses, butter, milk, etc.), alcoholic beverages, smoked and canned goods, confectionery, meat and fish products.

Non-food products according to trading system classifications are divided into the following product groups: household and haberdashery goods (textiles, leather, metal haberdashery); household chemical products (adhesives, etc.); (dishes, sheet glass, lamp products); (porcelain, earthenware, majolica dishes, pottery, artistic and decorative items); building materials (binding substances, metal, ceramic and other materials); furniture products (wooden furniture, etc.); metal goods (dishes, cutlery, hardware and locks, tools, etc.); (wires and cords, installation products, electric lamps, electric heating devices, household machines, electrical measuring instruments); textile goods (fabrics, non-woven materials, piece goods); sewing goods (outerwear, ready-made dresses, underwear, hats); knitted goods (outer and underwear knitwear, hosiery and gloves, etc.); (leather, rubber and felted shoes); (fur semi-finished products, fur and sheepskin fur products); jewelry and watches; paper and products made from it, school writing supplies and stationery, musical, photographic and household radio-electronic equipment, toys, sporting goods. A separate group consists of books and other printed publications.

These groups are sometimes combined or, conversely, disaggregated. Thus, glass, ceramic and metal goods are combined into the group of household goods.

Educational classification

Educational classification used in the practice of teaching merchandising, it serves to study the consumer properties of goods, reveals general principles formation and preservation of these properties allows you to most fully study the range of products.

The educational classification is close to the trade classification, but is more consistent. In educational classifications aimed at studying the range of goods, the most important feature is the purpose.

In accordance with the educational classification, goods are also divided into two sections: food and non-food.

All food products according to the educational classification are divided into 9 main groups: grain and flour products; vegetables, fruits and mushrooms; flavoring goods; confectionery products; edible fats; dairy products; meat products; fishery products; eggs and egg products.

This classification is based on the common origin of goods, chemical composition, features of production technology, purpose and storage conditions.

In accordance with the educational classification, all non-food products are divided into the following groups: plastics and household chemicals; metal goods; silicate products; wood and furniture products; electrical goods; textile goods; sewing and knitted goods; leather and footwear goods; fur goods; perfumes and cosmetics, jewelry; electronic goods; toys, printed materials, etc.

Economic-statistical classification

Economic-statistical classification considered the most complete. It is presented in All-Russian classifier products OK 005-93 (OKP). OKP is intended to ensure reliability, comparability and automated processing of information about products in such areas as standardization, certification, quality management, production, statistics, economics and others.

Each OKP position contains a six-digit digital code, a single-digit control number and the name of the product group, which are written in the following form:

CC code Name

815320 3 Special braided cords

The OKP provides for a 5-stage hierarchical classification with a digital decimal coding system. At each level of classification, division is carried out according to the most significant economic and technical classification criteria.

At the first stage of classification there are product classes (XX 000), at the second - subclasses (XX ХХОО), at the third - groups (XX ХХОО), at the fourth - subgroups
(XX ХХХО) and on the fifth - types of products (XX ХХХХ).

Codes of 2 - 5-digit product groupings are padded with zeros to 6 digits and are written with an interval between the second and third digits.

Product classification in OKP can be completed at the third, fourth or fifth stages of the classification division.

For unambiguous understanding and delimitation of the scope of concepts used individual items OKP include explanations. Explanations are given directly below the name of the item to which they relate.

Explanations are provided to exclude the possibility that an object included in another position of the classifier will fall into this position of the classifier, for the purpose of a uniform understanding by specialists of individual words or phrases as part of the name of the position if it is necessary to clarify the scope of application of this position or if it is necessary to list objects that may be included in this position .

For example:

58 5300 4 Culvert parts

Explanation: including bottom slabs, slab blocks, caps.

The use of this classifier in the practice of trade and commodity science is difficult, since the grouping of products does not coincide with either the trade or educational classification of goods. The same product groups in OKP are included in different classes, since they are produced by different industries. Thus, household goods are included in dozens of classes and subclasses of products that have different code designations. Thus, the OKP classifier does not reflect many of the characteristics of goods and trade interests; in particular, it does not take into account the consumer properties of goods.

Standard classification

In merchandising it is possible to use standard classification, presented in state and industry standards.

The standard classification is used to determine requirements, nomenclature of quality indicators, test conditions and methods, quality control, to develop procedures, etc. This classification system is reflected in the All-Russian Classifier of Standards (OKS).

The main classification features underlying the division of goods in accordance with the standard classification are industry and purpose. Classification based on purpose is fixed in state standards the fourth system, called the quality indicator system. For example, knitted goods according to this classification system are divided into outerwear, linen, hosiery and gloves.

Foreign economic classification

Foreign economic classification began to be used in Russia relatively recently. This classification was developed on the basis of the Harmonized System of Description and Coding of Goods (HS) and the Combined Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature of the European Economic Community (CN EEC). It is reflected in the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity (TN FEA) and serves as the basis for regulating foreign economic activity. The foreign economic classification has been agreed upon with international organizations and systematizes all goods that are the subject of international trade.

In the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity of the CIS, all goods are clearly assigned to certain classification groups. Explanations for each classification group are contained in the Notes to sections, groups, specific product items and in the Basic Rules for the Interpretation of the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity of the CIS, which have legal force.

Correct determination of the position of goods in the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity of the CIS is crucial for analyzing the activities of firms and enterprises, regulating production and trade, quantitative and qualitative assessment of goods, insurance, determining rates of customs duties and other payments, developing a regime for the export-import of certain goods, comparison data on foreign trade of various countries and conducting economic and statistical analysis to compare prices for goods.

In the Commodity Classification of Foreign Economic Activity of the CIS, the coding of goods is carried out using a ten-digit digital code, the first six digits of which correspond to the code designation adopted in the HS coding system. The same six digits, plus the seventh and eighth, form the product code according to the Unified Economic System Code. The ninth and tenth categories are intended to detail certain commodity items, taking into account the interests of Russia and other members of the commonwealth. While the tenth digit has a zero code.

A significant drawback of the foreign economic classification system is its difficulty in use: special knowledge is required to determine the position of the product and its code.

General rules and methods of classification

Classification allows you to divide goods into certain categories or levels in accordance with the accepted classification method. The division is carried out from the highest level of classification to the lowest. The number of classification stages depends on its goals, objectives, complexity and number of classified objects.

The highest levels of classification are section and class. The middle stages of classification are group and species. After the “type” there are lower levels of classification, which include: variety, article. When classifying, auxiliary categories are also used: subsection, subclass, subgroup, etc.

View- this is the main classification characteristic of goods. It represents the final product of production, has a specific purpose and its own name, which reflects its external feature or internal content. For example, glass, sofa, chintz, apple, cod belong to the species category. But dishes, furniture, fabrics, fruits and fish do not belong to this category, since they combine several types.

General rules for constructing a classification should be considered:

• establishing the purpose of classification;
• choice of classification method;
• determination of classification characteristics;
• establishing a sequence of classification characteristics from more significant to less significant;
• determination of the number of classification levels (number of facets).

The number of characteristics and stages of classification depends on the complexity and number of objects being classified, and on the purposes of classification. Classification level- this is the stage of dividing a set into its constituent parts according to one of the characteristics. Classification depth characterized by the number of classification stages, i.e., the number of features used.

Classification method call a set of techniques (methods) for dividing a set of objects into subsets. There are two classification methods: facet and hierarchical. The division of a set of objects by each method is subject to certain rules. Classification methods and rules are classification system.

Facet classification method provides for the parallel division of many objects according to one characteristic into separate, independent groups - facets (from the French facette - facet of a polished stone) (Fig. 1).

Hierarchical

Faceted

The individual facets are independent and not subordinate to each other, but they are related by the fact that they belong to the same set. Each facet characterizes one of the sides of the distributed set. Thus, the facet classification system is a system of separate independent (not subordinate to each other) groupings.

The use of a facet system in many cases facilitates the compilation of classifiers and coding of classification objects.

Hierarchical classification method characterized by the sequential division of a given set of objects into subordinate subsets (Fig. 1). The hierarchical classification system is distinguished by its great harmony and the ability to group objects according to the maximum number of characteristics, but at the same time it creates many difficulties in its construction.

Comparative characteristics of hierarchical and facet classification methods

A mandatory rule for constructing a hierarchical classification is that objects at each level of classification are grouped only by one classification criterion. For example, it is impossible to simultaneously divide tableware into glass, tableware and enamel, and shoes into rubber, sports and varnished, since these groupings use several classification characteristics (material, purpose, nature of the coating).

Each classification method has its pros and cons. Therefore, in the practical solution of classification problems, it is most advisable to combine the advantages of both facet and hierarchical classification methods.

Main classification characteristics

The most important classification criteria of goods are the purpose, source materials (raw material composition), scope, method of production (technology features), features of origin, transportability, etc. These characteristics serve as the basis for combining (or separating) goods into separate categories(groups).

The purpose attribute determines the purpose of use of the product. It can be used at both higher and lower levels of classification (for example, food and non-food products). At the next stages of classification, this feature can be specified. Thus, knives that are included in the group of knife products along with scissors are divided according to their purpose into table knives, pantry knives, cabinet knives, utility knives, craft knives and folding knives.

Separation by type of raw material (materials) allows us to identify categories of goods with certain consumer properties. For example, shoes with soles made of genuine leather, shoes with rubber soles, shoes with uppers made of natural and artificial materials.

According to the composition of raw materials, sausages are classified into meat, offal and blood.

The division of goods based on design is typical for non-food products. So, depending on the design features washing machines can be drum and activator type.

For many groups of goods, the classification feature of dividing them according to the method of production is important. The production method predetermined the formation of such product groups as fabrics and knitted fabrics.

Classification characteristics close to the production method are the method of cultivation, processing method, and technology features. Food products are mainly classified according to these criteria. For example, according to the method of growing, vegetables are divided into ground, greenhouse, and greenhouse.

By origin they are of plant origin (fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, grains, etc.), animal origin (meat, fish, etc.), mineral origin (table salt), biosynthetic origin (vinegar).

Very often, goods are divided according to such criteria as shelf life and method of storage, transportability, etc. For example, depending on shelf life and quality, eggs are classified as dietary and table.

Classification features that are less common and not in all product groups include: gender and age division (for example, women's, men's, children's shoes); operating conditions (refrigerators for tropical and temperate climates); seasonality of use (winter, summer, demi-season, all-season clothing); dimensional characteristics (dimensions, dimensions); completeness (sets, devices, services, headsets); state of aggregation (solid and liquid soap); packaging method (packed caramel, weighted, piece), etc. Obviously, these classification criteria are preferable to use at lower levels of classification.

Depending on the purpose pursued, they use various types classifications:

1) educational,

2) trading,

3) product-strategic,

4) economic and statistical.

1. B educational In classifications, the classification criterion (by which a set will be divided into subsets) is usually selected taking into account the logic of presentation of the discipline, i.e. taking into account the learning process. The main goal of educational classifications used in merchandising is the most convenient, logical and consistent study of merchandising issues with minimal time investment. An example of such a classification would be the presentation of topics in MFT textbooks.

2. Trading classifications are used in the trading process with the aim of improving this process. An example of such a classification for pharmacy organizations could be a minimum range of medications, the presence of which is mandatory for any pharmacy organization.

3. Commodity-strategic classifications are used when choosing a marketing strategy for certain product groups. The purpose of such classifications is to achieve maximum customer satisfaction and thus maximum possible consumption of the product. An example of such a classification is the breakdown of goods into groups based on consumer preferences:

1) everyday goods. These are products that consumers buy frequently, without thinking, and with minimal effort to compare them with each other. For example, medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases that the consumer purchases frequently.

2) pre-selected goods. These are goods that the consumer, in the process of selection and purchase, carefully compares with each other in terms of quality, price, appearance, etc. For example, expensive drugs and medical products.

3) goods of special demand. These are, as a rule, goods with unique characteristics for which the consumer is willing to spend additional effort to acquire. For example, expensive drugs or medical devices manufactured specific manufacturer who suits the consumer

4) goods of passive demand. These are products that the consumer does not know about their existence or effectiveness, or is aware of but does not usually think about purchasing. For example, medicinal leeches, as well as the latest drugs and medical devices.

4. Economic-statistical classifications were created to facilitate farm management at all levels: from federal to facility (specific organization). An example of the use of such a classification is the classification used in the All-Russian Classifier of Products (see below).

Coding of medical and pharmaceutical products

Coding– this is the orderly formation of a symbol (code) and its assignment to objects of classification.

Code- this is a sign or a set of signs adopted to designate a classification group (subset) or the object of classification itself (for example, a specific product).

Purpose of the code:

1) the code allows you to avoid complex and different product names,

2) the code is a necessary condition for the automation of various merchandising operations through the use of computer technology,

3) the code makes it easier to conduct marketing research.

The code should be:

1) brief, but at the same time sufficient to cover the entire product range,

2) visual,

3) easy to decipher.

The following systems are used for coding:

1) digital,

2) alphanumeric,

3) dashed,

4) magnetic,

5) radio frequency.

A digital coding system can be:

1) ordinal (products are assigned codes in the order of their location without classification),

2) decimal and centenimal (used in classification and assumes the need to allocate 10 or 100 digits to each class),

3) serial (each classification group is assigned a series of numbers without any restrictions),

4) combined (when constructing the code, different symbol systems are used).

Methods digital system coding:

When coding goods, the following methods are used:

1) classification,

2) registration.

1. Classification coding method- This is coding carried out on the basis of the classification of goods.

Accordingly, there are 2 types of classification coding method: a) sequential - this is a coding method based on a hierarchical classification method,

b) parallel is a coding method based on the facet classification method.

2. Registration coding method- This is coding carried out by assigning a serial number, and the code designation is natural numbers. This is the simplest encoding method, because... registration of objects is carried out in the order of development and registration of goods.

Using product coding:

Classifier is an official document representing a systematic set of names and codes of classification groups and objects of classification.

Let's consider the structure of classifiers using the example of the All-Russian Product Classifier (OKP). OKP is intended to ensure reliability, comparability and automated processing of information and products in such areas as standardization, statistics, economics, etc.

OKP is a systematic set of 12-bit (i.e. 12-digit) codes and names of product groups (subsets), built according to a hierarchical classification system.

OKP consists of 3 parts:

1) classification part (K-OKP) – consists of 6 digits (digits),

2) assortment part (A-OKP) - consists of 4 digits (digits),

3) check number (CN) – consists of 2 digits (digits).

Classification part of OKP contains a 6-digit digital code and is a list of classification groupings (subsets) constructed using a hierarchical method: classes, subclasses, groups, subgroups, types.

Assortment part of OKP contains a coded assortment of products of certain types, brands, parameters, design options, dosage forms, configurations, etc. In some cases it corresponds to such classification groupings (subsets) as subspecies and variety.

Check number designed to detect errors when writing codes to primary documents, technical storage media, when transmitting them through technical communication channels and entering them into a computer.

The structure of the OKP code is shown in the following example:

9 3 1 5 2 2 1 2 6 6 1 0

93 – class (medicines, chemical-pharmaceutical products and medical products),

1 – subclass (chemical-pharmaceutical preparations with a general structure and intermediate products for the production of medicines),

5 – group (sulfonamides drugs),

2 – subgroup (heterocyclic sulfonamide derivatives),

2 – type (norsulfazole).

This concludes the classification part of the OKP. The following 4 categories are the assortment part of OKP:

12 – serial number in the group upon registration (in this case corresponds to the dosage form with dosage and release form: Tablet 0.25 No. 10 in contour packaging),

66 – pharmacotherapeutic group for drugs (in this case: sulfonamide drugs) or assortment.

The next 2 digits are the check number:

10 is the control number.

The check number is calculated using a special algorithm:

1) number in order, each digit (digit) of the classification and assortment parts of the code (1,2,3...10),

2) multiply each digit of the code to the corresponding digit in order,

3) fold the numbers received,

4) the amount received divide per number 11 ,

5) highlight integer no rounding, and discard hundredths and tenths,

6) from the amount (from step 3) subtract the result of multiplying the number 11 by the integer from action 5.

Classification is one of the common and frequently used operations, a means of imparting rigor and clarity to our thinking.

Classification always establishes a certain order. It divides the area of ​​objects under consideration into groups in order to organize this area and make it clearly visible.

Classification is a special case of division - a logical operation on concepts. Division is the distribution into groups of those objects that are thought of in the original concept. The groups resulting from division are called division members. The characteristic by which division is made is called the basis of division.

The classification is a multi-stage, branched division. For example, sensations can be divided into visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory. Then, within individual groups, subgroups are identified (for example, spatial and color visual sensations), the subgroups themselves are subjected to a more detailed division, etc.

Any classification pursues a specific goal, and the choice of the basis for classification is dictated precisely by this goal. In one case, it is advisable to divide people by level of education, in another by age, in a third by shoe size, etc. Since there can be a lot of diverse and heterogeneous purposes, the same group of objects can be classified on very different grounds.

Sometimes they say that one should strive to classify objects according to important, essential characteristics, and avoid divisions according to random, secondary properties. However, this wish, no matter how reasonable it may seem at first, is hardly realistic and feasible. What is important from one point of view may turn out to be less important and even completely unimportant from another; division that serves one goal may interfere with the achievement of another goal.

Classification is widely used in science, and it is natural that the most complex and advanced classifications are found here. A brilliant example of scientific classification is the periodic system of elements by D.I. Mendeleev. It captures the natural connections between chemical elements and determines the place of each of them in a single table.

Received universal fame in the 18th-19th centuries. classification of living beings by C. Linnaeus. He set the task of descriptive natural science to arrange objects of observation - elements of living and inanimate nature - according to clear and specific characteristics in a strict order. The classification would have to reveal the basic principles that determine the structure of the world and provide a complete and deep explanation of nature.

Linnaeus's leading idea was the opposition between natural and artificial classifications. Artificial classification uses their non-essential features to organize objects, up to and including reference to the initial letters of the names of these objects (alphabetical indexes, name catalogs in libraries, etc.). Essential features are taken as the basis for natural classification, from which many derived properties of the objects being ordered follow. Artificial classification provides very meager and shallow knowledge about its objects; natural classification brings them into a system containing the most important information about them.

According to Linnaeus and his followers, comprehensive natural classifications are the highest goal of studying nature and the crown of its scientific knowledge.

Nowadays, ideas about the role of classifications in the process of cognition have changed markedly. The contrast between natural and artificial classifications has lost much of its edge. It is not always possible to clearly separate the essential from the non-essential, especially in living nature. Objects studied by science are, as a rule, complex systems of intertwined and interdependent properties. It is most often possible to single out the most significant ones from among them, leaving aside all the rest, only in abstraction. Moreover, what is significant in one respect usually turns out to be much less important when considered in another respect. And finally, the process of deepening into the essence of even a simple object is endless.

All this shows that the role of classification, including natural classification, in the knowledge of nature should not be overestimated. Moreover, its importance should not be exaggerated in the field of complex and dynamic social objects. The hope for a comprehensive and fundamentally complete classification is a clear utopia, even if we are talking only about inanimate nature. Living beings, very complex and in the process of constant change, are extremely reluctant to fit even into the rubrics of the proposed limited classifications and do not take into account the boundaries established by man.

Having realized a certain artificiality of the most natural classifications, and even noting some elements of arbitrariness in them, one should not, however, go to the other extreme and belittle the importance of such classifications.

Difficulties with classification most often have an objective reason. The point is not the lack of insight of the human mind, but the complexity of the world around us, the absence of rigid boundaries and clearly defined classes in it. The general variability of things, their fluidity further complicates and blurs this picture.

That is why it is not always possible to clearly classify everything. Anyone who constantly aims to draw clear dividing lines constantly risks finding himself in an artificial world of his own creation, which has little in common with the dynamic, full of shades and transitions of the real world.

List of used literature

1. Getmanova A.D. Textbook on logic. – M., 1995.
2. Ivin A.A. Logics. Tutorial. 2nd edition. - M.: Knowledge, 1998.
3. Chelpanov G. Textbook of logic. – M., 1994.

After studying this topic, you will learn:

What are classes and subclasses;
- what is the basis for classification;
- what is inheritance of properties;
- why classification is needed;
- how to classify various objects;
- how computer documents are classified.

Classes and classification

Man has the inherent ability to generalize and organize the entire variety of objects. Each noun reflects a person’s idea of ​​a large group of objects: a house, a table, a book. Objects of one group have characteristics common to the entire group, as well as some features that allow them to be distinguished from other objects.

It is human nature to identify several objects that are related by some characteristic, considering them as an independent object.

For example, about the violin, cello, viola, double bass, flute, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, we say that these are “musical instruments.” Seeing cups, saucers, a sugar bowl, and a teapot on the table, we call it the general word “dishes.” These groups of objects have some general properties, they can be equally influenced to obtain a certain result. They usually exist in the same environment. Such groups of objects are called “classes”. 

A class is a group of objects with the same set of characteristics.

The objects included in a class are called instances of the class. You need to understand that the objects that you have combined for some parameters into a class with a common name differ from each other in specific parameter values. For example, balls, while maintaining the basic properties of this class of objects (lightness, elasticity), can differ in material (rubber, rubber, leather), color, size. Birds are called eagle and chicken, ostrich and hummingbird. Even within a narrow class, specimens can vary greatly: among the winged insects called “bees” there are queen bees, drones, and worker bees. This reveals an important property of classes - the variety of instances included in the class. These differences make it possible to distinguish narrower groups within classes - subclasses, that is, to classify objects in the surrounding world.

Classification is the distribution of objects into classes and subclasses based on common characteristics.

The classification results are usually displayed in the form of a hierarchical (tree) diagram. General view such a diagram is shown in Figure 9.1.

Externally, the classification scheme resembles an inverted tree, which is why it is called hierarchical (tree-like). The dotted lines in the diagram highlight the hierarchy levels. The topmost level (the root of the tree) specifies the main features that make it possible to distinguish objects of this class from others. Each subsequent lower level distinguishes groups of objects from a higher level based on the coincidence of one or more characteristics. At the bottom level there are specific instances of selected subclasses.

You may have already encountered similar diagrams when studying biology, history and other subjects. 

Rice. 9.1. General view of the hierarchical diagram

This type of diagram is often depicted pedigree. It is commonly called a family tree.

Pedigree is a list of generations of one clan, establishing the origin and degree of relationship.  

Basis of classification

You are already familiar with well-known examples of classification. For example, in biology this is the classification of plants and animals. Since ancient times, people, becoming familiar with the diversity of life forms on Earth, have sought to distribute this diversity into groups. This is how a natural classification developed, based on observation and grouping according to certain characteristics. The ideas presented in C. Linnaeus’s book “Species of Plants,” published in 1753, still serve as the starting point for plant classification. Since that time, a double name for plants has been used: the first part of the name indicates the subclass (family), and the second - the specific characteristics of the specimen of this subclass. For example, the name Citrus limon indicates that we are talking about the citrus family, and specifically about the lemon tree.

Not only natural but also artificial objects can be classified: in grammar, it is common to divide words into parts of speech, in physics - the classification of types of movement, in mathematics - the classification of numbers. They are based on the grouping of objects according to one or more intentionally selected characteristics. In different branches of science and technology, classes and subclasses may have their own specific names: types, families, departments, categories, groups, etc. However, their essence does not change.

Consider the “book” object. By this word we mean a wide variety of books: fiction and technical, different authors, different prices, thick and thin, in gift edition and paperback...

Now imagine that you need to put all this diversity “on the shelves” in the literal sense of the word, for example, organize your library.

Everyone will approach this issue differently. One person will arrange all the books in alphabetical order, according to the author's last name. Another will divide them into genres: detective, fantasy, adventure, romance or historical novels. The third will place them on the shelves, guided by the color of the binding and the size of the books (you've probably come across this approach). Despite the difference in classification methods, all these examples have something in common: the division of objects into “related” groups (classes), for which there are one or more common parameters.

In all the examples given, a common feature was chosen when grouping: in the first case it is the author, in the second case it is the genre, in the third case it is color and size. It was precisely on the basis of these characteristics that objects whose meaning coincided were then distinguished from the general mass.

There may be several such general signs. They are the basis of classification. Having chosen the basis, subclasses can be distinguished from the class with the general name “book”: “book of a certain author”, “book of a certain genre”, “book of a certain size”.

Classification is a creative process , so each person can have their own scheme. One of the possible options for identifying subclasses from the class of books is shown in Figure 9.2.

Rice. 9.2. Classification of books

On the first level The criterion “fiction” (yes, no) was chosen as the basis for dividing books into two groups. On this basis, there was a division into fiction and technical literature.

On the second level a sign of identifying subclasses could be called “form of presentation of information” (fiction, poetry, dictionaries, etc.). 

Third level partitions can be characterized by the characteristic “style of presentation”.

Fourth level classifications are allocated only for novels, so as not to clutter the diagram. The sign of this level is “genre”.

At the lowest level There are specific copies of various books.

Property inheritance

The most important property of classes is inheritance. This word is familiar to you. Children inherit character traits from their parents and external signs. Each subclass that is distinguished from a class inherits the properties and actions inherent in that class. In the example shown in Figure 9.2, both the novel by D. S. Merezhkovsky, and all other published novels, and all fiction in general, inherit general properties and actions from the “book” class. They are all printed on paper, bound and designed to be read.

From the above classification it is clear that a hierarchical structure (tree) has formed. At its head is the ancestor class - “book”. At the very core, instances of subclasses are specific books by specific authors.

This tree structure with a common root is called an “inheritance hierarchy.” The characteristics and behavior associated with instances of a particular class become available to any class lower in the hierarchical tree.

When you say that “a book is a source of knowledge,” you mean both all books in general and a specific book, for example, “On Tasty and Healthy Food.” This is where inheritance comes into play.

Why is classification needed?

□ Classification allows you to select from the entire variety of objects groups with properties of interest to the researcher and focus on their study. 

Let's assume that you are an inexperienced gardener, but want, using the achievements of science, to grow on your plot good harvests tomatoes. You don’t need to study a thick volume of “Plant Growing”; just read books about the nightshade family, and even better, about the peculiarities of growing tomatoes in your area.

□ Classification of objects is carried out with the aim of establishing hereditary connections between objects. The inheritance property allows you to study the characteristics of all objects of a class without being tied to a specific instance.

In geology, there is the “theory of uniform change,” which states that all natural factors act in the same way everywhere. There is no need to study how winds act on the Ural Mountains, since the mechanism of destruction of mountains under the influence of winds has long been studied, it is the same for all cases. The same applies to earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, mudflows, etc.

□ Classification allows you to systematize knowledge about objects of any nature and purpose.

This statement is illustrated by the fact that there is not a single school discipline that does not use the classification of objects of study as a means of summarizing the information received in the lessons. Open any textbook and see for yourself.

Examples of classification of various objects

By examining the same object for different purposes, you can see its different facets. For example, a doctor, when describing a specific person, will focus on the symptoms of a possible disease.

The psychologist will be interested in character traits and mental characteristics. Social services will pay attention to age, presence of relatives, living conditions. Therefore, the same objects can be classified in different ways by choosing one or another basis. You have already encountered examples of various classifications in the textbook. For example, when studying section 1, you classify information according to different criteria: by the method of perception and by the form of presentation.

Figure 9.3 shows another example of information classification - by content.

Rice. 9.3. Classification of information by content

In this classification, based on the “content” attribute, the following groups of information are distinguished at the first level:

♦ statistical - indicators of development of production and society;
♦ commercial - the most important information about production, trade and financial transactions;
♦ environmental - information about the condition environment and the impact of human activities on nature;
♦ political - information about activities state power, social movements and parties;
♦ other (demographic, medical, etc.).

All identified subclasses are characterized by the same properties (clarity, completeness, relevance, etc.) and actions (exchange, storage, processing) as the higher class “information”.

Let us give another example of a classification concerning the most significant systems (Figure 9.4).

Human participation in the creation of the system (natural and artificial) was chosen as the basis for classification at the first level.

At the second level, the basis for classification was the “sphere of human activity” feature. The following subclasses of systems are highlighted here:
♦ spiritual ones relating to a person’s spiritual life;
♦ technological related to human production activities;
♦ organizational ones providing services for all types of activities.

Rice. 9.4. Classification of the most significant systems

The diagram does not show further branching of the tree, as this would make the drawing cumbersome. But it is understood that further subclassification is possible. For example, considering the class of systems called “Art”, it was possible to distinguish the following subclasses according to the means of implementing the authors’ plans: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Literature, Theater, Music, Cinema, etc.

Along with established and generally recognized classifications, any classification of objects has the right to exist if a characteristic feature is taken as its basis and the rules for identifying classes and subclasses are followed. Figure 9.5 shows an example of the classification used in real life and means of transportation found in fairy tales.

Here, at the zero level, there is a class of objects with the general name “vehicles”.

At the first level, two subclasses are distinguished based on “reality” (they exist in real life or in fairy tales and fantasies). 

Rice. 9.5. Classification of vehicles

The second level distinguishes new subgroups from real and fairy-tale means of transportation on the basis of “travel medium.”

The third level divides real vehicles into subgroups based on the “type of vehicle”. The diagram does not indicate the allocation of subgroups from real ground vehicles, so as not to clutter it. But these groups could be as follows: rail, road. Further subdivision is possible. It is important to understand that lower levels inherit all the characteristic features characteristic of higher levels: for example, the Ka-26 object, which belongs to the subclass of helicopters, inherits the medium of movement (air) from the higher level, and is also a real means of transportation with all the accompanying features (there is in real life, transports people and goods).

Classification of computer documents

In the most general sense, a computer can be called an information processing tool. There are many different software environments for this. Developers are constantly improving programs, making them easier to work with and providing them with new features.

In order not to “drown” in a sea of ​​software products, the user must have a very good idea of ​​what information he has to work with. Each software environment is designed to create documents of a certain type.

In practical classes you have already become acquainted with many types of computer documents, which will be mentioned when classifying documents.

The diagram shown in Figure 9.6 shows the classification in which the “purpose of the document” attribute is selected as the basis. The main purpose of computer documents is to present information in a user-friendly form. Table 9.1 provides a more specific description of each class of document.

Rice. 9.6. Classification of computer documents

Please note that the name of the environment usually matches the type of document and the form of information presented in it.

The above classification will help you choose a medium in accordance with the intended form of information presentation.

Currently, the documents used in various areas human activity are created on a computer. Let's look at examples of documents for various purposes and areas of application.

A literary work, a newspaper article, an order are examples of text documents.

Drawings, drawings, diagrams are graphic documents. 

Table 9.1. Types of computer documents

An accountant at an enterprise presents data in tabular form for calculating employee salaries. The main feature of spreadsheets is that they allow you not only to present information in tabular form, but also to perform automatic calculations using formulas that link table cells.

One type of computer document is a database. It is a collection of ordered information about objects. In everyday life, you have come across databases more than once. This includes a card index with the titles of books in the library, a telephone directory, and a catalog of goods. Currently, instead of conventional “paper” databases, computer databases are being created everywhere, represented by documents of the appropriate type. The Help Desk Manager has a comprehensive computer database at his disposal to answer any of your questions. The database management system provides a quick search for the information you are interested in.

Text, graphics, tables, databases are examples of documents that present one type of information.

However, most often we deal with composite documents in which information is present in different forms. Such documents can contain text, formulas, drawings, tables, and much more. School textbooks, magazines, newspapers are well-known examples of composite documents.

To create composite documents, software environments are used that provide the ability to present information in different forms.

Development software has led to the emergence of new types of computer documents. In particular, these are presentations and hypertext documents.

The presentation is a collection of computer slides. A special program provides not only the preparation of information, but also its display according to a pre-created scenario.

Hypertext is a document that contains so-called hyperlinks to other parts of the document or other files that contain additional information. 

Test questions and assignments

1. Why do you need to classify objects?

2. What is the basis of any classification?

3. Give an example of classifying objects according to general properties.

4. Give an example of classifying objects according to common actions.

5. Can the environment of existence become the basis for classification?

6. Classify objects with the general name “bicycle”.

7. Classify household dishes according to the following criteria: material, purpose, durability.

8. Offer several options for arranging (classifying) various objects on your desk.

9. Name the basis on which the following objects could fall into one group:

■ kangaroo, platypus, rabbit, armadillo;
■ rose, wheel, football boots, cactus;
■ milk, gasoline, acid, magma.

10. Name the dissimilar objects of the surrounding world that would be included in one group based on the “one substance” basis.

11. What classifications are used in your school environment?

12. List the most common groups of computer documents.

13. Give examples of classes of software products. What classification basis can be chosen for this?

14. What classification basis can be used to distinguish computer hardware groups?

15. What classes of computer memory do you know?

There are two types of classification: auxiliary and natural (scientific).

An auxiliary classification is created with the goal of quickly finding any individual item among the classified items. The purpose of this classification determines the principle of its construction. The auxiliary classification is based on some external insignificant feature, which, however, turns out to be useful in the search process.

Examples of auxiliary classification would be the distribution of students in a course in a list in alphabetical order, or the same distribution of library cards in alphabetical catalog etc. Knowing the order of the letters in the alphabet, we can easily and quickly find the name we need in the list or information about the book we are interested in in the catalog.

But knowing what place in the auxiliary classification system occupies this or that object, does not make it possible to assert anything about its properties. So, for example, the fact that student Arkhipov is listed first, and student Yakovlev - last, says absolutely nothing about their abilities and character traits. Therefore, the auxiliary classification is not scientific.

In contrast to auxiliary classification, natural classification is the distribution of objects into classes based on their most significant characteristics. The most significant features of an object are those that determine its other features. For example, the most essential characteristic of a person is his ability to work. This sign predetermines the presence in a person of such characteristics as upright walking, the ability to communicate (work presupposes a team), the ability to think, etc.

Classification has a connection with the definition of concepts. Those characteristics in accordance with which the distribution of objects into classes is made must be distinctive species-forming characteristics. We have already seen that indicating the specific distinctive feature is the main task of definition, therefore knowledge of the classification of objects makes it possible to determine them. The more significant a feature underlies the classification, the deeper definitions can be given to the objects included in the classification system.

Thus, natural classification, in contrast to auxiliary classification, allows one to determine the properties of this object based on the place occupied in it by one or another object, without resorting to experimental verification. In some cases, natural classification makes it possible to detect a pattern in changes in the properties of classified objects, which makes it possible to foresee the existence of as yet undiscovered objects and predict their main characteristics. For example, based on the periodic table of elements D.I. Mendeleev predicted the existence of such elements, unknown at that time and later discovered, as gallium, scandium and germanium. Similarly, the American physicist Gell-Mann, based on his classification elementary particles predicted the existence of some particles unknown to him and determined their properties. Later these particles were discovered experimentally.

Although classification plays a huge role in cognition, this role cannot be absolute. Any classification is relative. The relativity of classification is due to two factors: firstly, the relativity of our knowledge and, secondly, the fact that in nature there are no sharp boundaries between individual species.

With the development of science, the classification is clarified and supplemented, as the human mind comprehends the ever deeper essence of things. Instead of one classification, another, more adequate (corresponding) to reality, can be created.

Over time, after being recognized as natural, a classification can turn into an artificial one if it turns out that it was based on an insignificant, secondary feature. Such a classification is rejected as unsuitable for science and practice. The history of science knows many similar examples.

The classification of plants created by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus also turned out to be artificial. Since the basis was based on an insignificant feature (the number of stamens and the method of their attachment to flowers), as a result of the classification, the elementary rules of division were not observed. Related groups of plants (for example, cereals) found themselves in different, extremely dissimilar classes. Conversely, completely dissimilar plants (for example, oak and one type of sedge) ended up in the same class.

The relative, approximate nature of the classification is also due to the fact that in nature there are no sharp demarcation lines separating a class of objects from another. There are many transitional forms that stand on the border between different classification groups, preserving the features of both one and the other group. F. Engels wrote about this: “Hard and fast lines (absolutely sharp dividing lines) are incompatible with the theory of development. Even the dividing line between vertebrates and invertebrates is no longer unconditional, just like between fish and amphibians; and the border between birds and reptiles disappears more and more every day."

Classification always operates with concepts such as species, genus, class, accordingly distributing classified objects. According to F. Engels, these concepts “thanks to the theory of development have become fluid and thereby relative.” All this gives the classification a relative, approximate character. But even in this relative meaning, classification continues to be a serious means of scientific knowledge, since before exploring development and change, it is necessary to know what is changing and developing. Since every classification is built on a single principle, since it allows us to consider the classified objects in their unity, interconnection and interaction, it allows us to establish patterns of their development.