Research Methodology and Ontology of Historical Dynamics of Crises and Transformations

The article develops methodological and ontological ideas aimed at integrating the until now separated approaches of social cognition. The author focuses on identifying causes of crises and major historical transformations in different social and temporal scopes and within different fields of interaction. By means of several system models (the universal model of historical dynamics, A. Stinchcombe's functional model etc.) and synthesis of the basic concepts of human behavior (theory of rituals by E.Durkheim, E.Goffmann, and R.Collins; conception of attitudes and habitus; the operant conditioning model by B.F.Skinner), N.Rozov shows ways of combining statistical macro-indicators (structure) and dynamics of interaction between actors (agency). In this context, the author considers the possibilities of including the factor of randomness into the strict logic of scientific explanation in C.Hempel's interpretation; conceptualizes connection between headline-making "trigger" events, turning points and the preceding and subsequent quantitative and structural changes.