Integration - Definition and Overview

Integration may be any of the following:

• Usually integration is the construction of an object, a theory, etc. from separate more limited parts. The result is something composite or integral.

• Racial integration or simply "integration", in United States usage, can simply mean desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), but more properly refers actual social and cultural behavior rather than legalities.

• Regional integration is the integration of several countries' markets, trade policies, or other policies originally subject only to sovreign states' decisions in common supranational institutions. An example is the founding of the European Community, now known as the European Union.

• A similar notion also in international politics, is the absorption of a smaller entity by a larger or more powerful one (e.g. the integration of Tibet into China).

• In mathematics integral has several meanings:

• In calculus, the integral of a function is the area below its graph. See integral.
• A real number is "integral" if it is an integer.
• The integral value of a real number x is defined as the largest integer which is less than, or equal to, x. The integral value of x is often denoted by <math>\lfloor x \rfloor<math> and called the floor function.
• In abstract algebra, an integral domain is a commutative ring with 0 ≠ 1 in which the product of any two non-zero elements is always non-zero. Integral domains are generalizations of the integers.
• In number theory, an element of a number field is called integral if it is an algebraic integer.

• An electrical circuit, see integrator.

• Very-large-scale integration was a step in semiconductor technology.

• Computer telephony integration, as a step in telephone technology.

• In microeconomics and strategic management, horizontal integration and vertical integration each refer to a style of ownership and control.

• In certain branches of philosophy, Integral means comprehensive or holistic. More information can be found at the entries: Aurobindo, Ken Wilber, Integral (philosophy), and Integral politics.

• In sociology, "social integration" can refer to a person's level of attachment to a social group. (See Emile Durkheim).

• Computer systems integration.

• A rather arcane concept in securities law, where multiple offerings are "integrated" into a single offering.

See also

• Sensory integration dysfunction, a common symptom of Autism

External link

• Integrative thinking (http://noosphere.cc/integration.html)