Classification, its structure and types. Types of classifications. General rules and methods 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. Product-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 products that the consumer carefully compares with each other in terms of quality, price, appearance, etc., in the process of selection and purchase. 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 exist or are effective at, 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 Product Classifier (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, designs, 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 transmitted through technical communication channels and entered 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 during 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.

Division of these species, etc.)".

“Classification is a meaningful order of things, phenomena, dividing them into varieties according to some important characteristics.”

The classification is intended for permanent use in any science or field practical activities(for example, classification of animals and plants). Usually, as the basis for division in the classification, characteristics that are essential for these items are chosen. In this case, classification (called natural) reveals significant similarities and differences between objects and has cognitive significance. In other cases, when the purpose of classification is only to systematize objects, features that are convenient for this purpose, but unimportant for the objects themselves (for example, alphabetical catalogs) are chosen as the basis. Such classifications are called artificial.

The most valuable are classifications based on knowledge of the laws of connection between species, the transition from one species to another in the process of development (such, for example, is the classification of chemical elements created by Mendeleev).

Classification according to essential characteristics is called typology; it is based on the concept of type, as a unit of division of the reality being studied, a specific ideal model of historically developing objects (biological, linguistic, etc. typologies).

Any classification is the result of some coarsening of the actual boundaries between species, for they are always conditional and relative. With the development of knowledge, classifications are clarified and changed.

Division is the disclosure of the volume of a known concept; it occurs by listing all types (that is, smaller concepts) included in the divisible concept. From this it is clear that they can only be separated general concepts, covering various parts; It is also clear that for division it is necessary to have a basis or principle (principium divisionis), which makes it possible to correctly enumerate the members obtained through division (parles divisionis).

Correct division requires:

completeness of division: all members of the division must be listed;
purity: division terms are not overlapping concepts.

The basis for division can be any sign of the concept being divided. Using a sign as a principle of division, it is possible, through the law of contradiction, to always obtain a pure two-term division (dichotomy), for example, to divide objects into inorganic and organic, etc. All of the above has full application to classification.

When a researcher has before him a complex series of homogeneous phenomena, he:

must arrange them in a known order, convenient for research;
must group similar phenomena and distinguish them from those that only seem similar to them, but in reality are different from them;
must arrange these groups in such an order that the degree of their affinity and mutual dependence is expressed in the arrangement itself.

By classifying phenomena, they can be divided into groups, these groups can be subdivided again, etc.; for example, the concept of a kingdom (even animals) can be divided into classes, classes into genera, genera into species, species into subspecies, etc. When making this division, a researcher may have in mind various goals, objective or subjective, and also the nature classification depends on its purpose.

Examples of classifications

Classification rules (dividing the scope of a concept)

Notes

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Synonyms:

Linnaeus, Karl
Darwin, Charles Robert

See what “Classification” is in other dictionaries:

CLASSIFICATION- multi-stage, branched division of the logical volume of a concept. The result of a concept is a system of subordinate concepts: the divisible concept is a genus, new concepts are species, types of species (subspecies), etc. The most complex and perfect K.... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

classification- and, f. classification f. 1. Action according to value. Ch. classify. Classify materials collected during the expedition. BAS 1. Do not scold his chronological method of publishing grammars: for a historian, modernity is better than classes, and an index ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

CLASSIFICATION- (new lat. from lat. claseis, and facere do). Distribution of items into departments. See SYSTEMATICS. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. CLASSIFICATION Novolatinsk, from lat. classis, and facere, to do... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

classification- Cm … Dictionary of synonyms

CLASSIFICATION- [asi], classifications, female. (book). 1. Action under Ch. classify. 2. A system for distributing objects or concepts of some area into classes, departments, categories, etc. Classification of plants. Classification of minerals. Classification of sciences... ... Dictionary Ushakova

CLASSIFICATION- in biology (from the Latin classis rank, class and facio I do), the distribution of the entire set of living organisms by definition. a system of hierarchically subordinate groups of taxa (classes, families, genera, species, etc.). In the history of biol. K. was several. periods...... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

CLASSIFICATION- (from Latin classis category and facere do) distribution, division of objects, concepts, names into classes, groups, categories, in which objects that have a common characteristic fall into one group. For example, classification of economic sectors... ... Economic dictionary

Classification- See SHELF SEDIMENTS. Geological Dictionary: in 2 volumes. M.: Nedra. Edited by K. N. Paffengoltz et al. 1978 ... Geological encyclopedia

CLASSIFICATION- in mining, the separation of particles of crushed minerals into homogeneous in size, density, and other products (classes). Classification is carried out in classifiers...

CLASSIFICATION- (from the Latin classis category class and...fication), in logic, a system of subordinate concepts (classes of objects) of any field of knowledge or human activity, used as a means for establishing connections between these concepts or classes... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Classification- in information retrieval, the process of distributing documents into categories. In English: Classification English synonyms: Classifying See also: Indexing Financial Dictionary Finam... Financial Dictionary

Classification(from Latin classis - class and facio - lay out), a system of classes of objects (scope of concepts) of a particular field of knowledge subordinate to each other.

Classification always arises as a result of dividing some initial set of objects according to their similarities and differences into corresponding classes. They play a big role in scientific knowledge and practical activities of people. Typically, the study of any collection of objects always ends with the construction of their classification. This allows you to correctly navigate the world around you, make the right decisions and carry out effective (leading to achieving the desired goals) actions. In scientific knowledge, constructing a classification always means a transition from the level of purely empirical research to the level of theoretical generalization of accumulated facts. Since any classification is based on the objectively inherent features of objects of similarity and difference, the division of the original set into subclasses expresses some objective relationships that exist between objects.

Any classification can be presented in tree shape concepts (see diagram). Classification tree looks like a lot of dots ( peaks), connected by lines ( ribs). Each vertex represents the volume of some concept, which is called taxon(taxonomic unit). The edges show what subspecies these taxa are divided into.

Vertex TO 0 is called the root of the tree. It represents (represents) the volume of the original divisible concept. Taxa are grouped into tiers. Each tier contains taxa obtained as a result of the same number of applications of division operations to the volume of the original concept. Those taxa that are no longer divided into their species in this classification are called terminal taxa. Classification is always carried out on repeated application of the operation division of concepts.

Each taxon represents a certain class of objects (volumes of concepts) that have the same characteristics. These classes are successively divided into their subclasses, and the latter, in turn, are divided into their subclasses. As a result, a certain set of interconnected sets (volumes of concepts) arises, which clearly shows the relationship between concepts in a given field of knowledge. When constructing a classification, i.e. when moving from a certain class to its subclasses, all requirements must be met. which are presented to the operation of dividing concepts, specified with respect to classification. Thus, the requirement that division be carried out according to one base is retained when constructing a classification, but now it is allowed that each taxon be divided according to its own basis. The requirement that the members of the division exclude each other is also preserved, but now this applies only to taxa of the same tier (it is clear that taxa of different tiers cannot satisfy this requirement). Additionally, one more requirement is introduced - the classification must be proportionate, i.e. it must be continuous, without jumps (skipping tiers).

When constructing a classification, two varieties are used - dichotomous and by modification of the base. An example of a dichotomous classification is the so-called Porphyria tree, in which the Greek philosopher of the 2nd century AD. classified the philosophical concept of substance.

Example of classification by modification of the base is a classification of biological organisms. The division members that arise in this case are distributed into tiers, receiving special names in each tier. Thus, all organisms are initially divided into two sets called kingdoms - the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom (we are not presenting a modern classification here). These two sets form the 1st tier - the tier of kingdoms. In turn, kingdoms are divided into types, types into classes, classes into orders, orders into families, families into genera, genera into species. The latter are divided into varieties, and varieties into races, etc.

Bukanovsky V. M. Principles and main features of the classification of modern natural science

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 course students 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 elements unknown at that time and later discovered, such 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 remain 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.

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 opposition between natural and artificial classifications has largely lost its sharpness. 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.

Realizing 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

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