Download or read book Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences written by Flaminio Squazzoni and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume collects the revised versions of the invited and selected papers that were presented at the Second EPOS––Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation––Workshop, held in Brescia, Italy, in October 2006. EPOS is a bi-annual cross-disciplinary workshop on simulation originally established by Ulrich Frank and Klaus G. Troitzsch, with a first e- tion held in Koblenz in July 2004. EPOS aims to provide a forum for scholars from various disciplines, such as the social sciences, computer sciences, engineering and natural sciences, who are interested in discussing epistemological aspects of computer simulation across disciplinary boundaries. The common belief behind the workshop is the recognition that the time has come to seriously reflect on epistemological and methodological preconditions, processes and consequences of simulation as a research tool. During the fist edition in Koblenz 2004, a number of interesting topics were ca- fully addressed: the link between theory and simulation models, the empirical vali- tion of agent-based models in the natural and the social sciences, the relation between models and truth, as well as the role of stylized facts in evidence-based models. A good cross-disciplinary atmosphere permeated the workshop, making possible the exchange of knowledge and ideas beyond any disciplinary boundary. The first EPOS proceedings were edited by Ulrich Frank and Klaus G. Troitzsch and published in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Vol. 8, No. 4, 2005.
Download or read book Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences written by Flaminio Squazzoni and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-04-22 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the revised versions of the invited and selected papers from the Second Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation Workshop, EPOS 2006, which was held in Brescia, Italy, during October 5-6, 2006. The 11 papers presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 35 submissions. The topics addressed were epistemological and methodological contents, such as the relevance of empirical foundations for agent-based simulations, the role of theory, the concepts and meaning of emergence, the trade-off between simplification and complexification of models.
Download or read book Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the revised versions of the invited and selected papers from the Second Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation Workshop, EPOS 2006, which was held in Brescia, Italy, during October 5-6, 2006. The 11 papers presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 35 submissions. The topics addressed were epistemological and methodological contents, such as the relevance of empirical foundations for agent-based simulations, the role of theory, the concepts and meaning of emergence, the trade-off between simplification and complexification of models.
Download or read book Epistemological Aspects Of Computer Simulation In The Social Sciences written by J. Siekmann R. Goebel and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Modelling and Simulation in the Social Sciences from the Philosophy of Science Point of View written by R. Hegselmann and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Model building in the social sciences can increasingly rely on well elaborated formal theories. At the same time inexpensive large computational capacities are now available. Both make computer-based model building and simulation possible in social science, whose central aim is in particular an understanding of social dynamics. Such social dynamics refer to public opinion formation, partner choice, strategy decisions in social dilemma situations and much more. In the context of such modelling approaches, novel problems in philosophy of science arise which must be analysed - the main aim of this book. Interest in social simulation has recently been growing rapidly world- wide, mainly as a result of the increasing availability of powerful personal computers. The field has also been greatly influenced by developments in cellular automata theory (from mathematics) and in distributed artificial intelligence which provided tools readily applicable to social simulation. This book presents a number of modelling and simulation approaches and their relations to problems in philosophy of science. It addresses sociologists and other social scientists interested in formal modelling, mathematical sociology, and computer simulation as well as computer scientists interested in social science applications, and philosophers of social science.
Download or read book Simulating Social Complexity written by Bruce Edmonds and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-11-24 with total page 833 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines all aspects of using agent or individual-based simulation. This approach represents systems as individual elements having their own set of differing states and internal processes. The interactions between elements in the simulation represent interactions in the target systems. What makes this "social" is that it can represent an observed society. Social systems include all those systems where the components have individual agency but also interact with each other. This includes human societies and groups, but also increasingly socio-technical systems where the internet-based devices form the substrate for interaction. These systems are central to our lives, but are among the most complex known. This poses particular problems for those who wish to understand them. The complexity often makes analytic approaches infeasible but, on the other hand, natural language approaches are also inadequate for relating intricate cause and effect. This is why individual and agent-based computational approaches hold out the possibility of new and deeper understanding of such systems. This handbook marks the maturation of this new field. It brings together summaries of the best thinking and practices in this area from leading researchers in the field and constitutes a reference point for standards against which future methodological advances can be judged. This second edition adds new chapters on different modelling purposes and applying software engineering methods to simulation development. Revised existing content will keep the book up-to-date with recent developments. This volume will help those new to the field avoid "reinventing the wheel" each time, and give them a solid and wide grounding in the essential issues. It will also help those already in the field by providing accessible overviews of current thought. The material is divided into four sections: Introduction, Methodology, Mechanisms, and Applications. Each chapter starts with a very brief section called ‘Why read this chapter?’ followed by an abstract, which summarizes the content of the chapter. Each chapter also ends with a section on ‘Further Reading’. Whilst sometimes covering technical aspects, this second edition of Simulating Social Complexity is designed to be accessible to a wide range of researchers, including both those from the social sciences as well as those with a more formal background. It will be of use as a standard reference text in the field and also be suitable for graduate level courses.
Download or read book Handbook of Computational Social Science Volume 1 written by Uwe Engel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-10 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of Computational Social Science is a comprehensive reference source for scholars across multiple disciplines. It outlines key debates in the field, showcasing novel statistical modeling and machine learning methods, and draws from specific case studies to demonstrate the opportunities and challenges in CSS approaches. The Handbook is divided into two volumes written by outstanding, internationally renowned scholars in the field. This first volume focuses on the scope of computational social science, ethics, and case studies. It covers a range of key issues, including open science, formal modeling, and the social and behavioral sciences. This volume explores major debates, introduces digital trace data, reviews the changing survey landscape, and presents novel examples of computational social science research on sensing social interaction, social robots, bots, sentiment, manipulation, and extremism in social media. The volume not only makes major contributions to the consolidation of this growing research field but also encourages growth in new directions. With its broad coverage of perspectives (theoretical, methodological, computational), international scope, and interdisciplinary approach, this important resource is integral reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers engaging with computational methods across the social sciences, as well as those within the scientifi c and engineering sectors.
Download or read book Computer Simulation Validation written by Claus Beisbart and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-04-09 with total page 1074 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique volume introduces and discusses the methods of validating computer simulations in scientific research. The core concepts, strategies, and techniques of validation are explained by an international team of pre-eminent authorities, drawing on expertise from various fields ranging from engineering and the physical sciences to the social sciences and history. The work also offers new and original philosophical perspectives on the validation of simulations. Topics and features: introduces the fundamental concepts and principles related to the validation of computer simulations, and examines philosophical frameworks for thinking about validation; provides an overview of the various strategies and techniques available for validating simulations, as well as the preparatory steps that have to be taken prior to validation; describes commonly used reference points and mathematical frameworks applicable to simulation validation; reviews the legal prescriptions, and the administrative and procedural activities related to simulation validation; presents examples of best practice that demonstrate how methods of validation are applied in various disciplines and with different types of simulation models; covers important practical challenges faced by simulation scientists when applying validation methods and techniques; offers a selection of general philosophical reflections that explore the significance of validation from a broader perspective. This truly interdisciplinary handbook will appeal to a broad audience, from professional scientists spanning all natural and social sciences, to young scholars new to research with computer simulations. Philosophers of science, and methodologists seeking to increase their understanding of simulation validation, will also find much to benefit from in the text.
Download or read book Practicing Safe Sects written by F. LeRon Shults and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-02-12 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Practicing Safe Sects F. LeRon Shults provides scientific and philosophical resources for having “the talk” about religious reproduction: where do gods come from – and what are the costs of bearing them in our culturally pluralistic, ecologically fragile environment?
Download or read book What levels of explanation in the behavioural sciences written by Giuseppe Boccignone and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2015-07-03 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complex systems are to be seen as typically having multiple levels of organization. For instance, in the behavioural and cognitive sciences, there has been a long lasting trend, promoted by the seminal work of David Marr, putting focus on three distinct levels of analysis: the computational level, accounting for the What and Why issues, the algorithmic and the implementational levels specifying the How problem. However, the tremendous developments in neuroscience knowledge about processes at different scales of organization together with the complexity of today cognitive theories suggest that there will hardly be only three levels of explanation. Instead, there will be many different degrees of commitments corresponding to the different granularities - from high-level (behavioural) models to low-level (neural and molecular) models of the cognitive research program. For instance, Bayesian approaches, that are usually advocated for formalizing Marr's computational level and rational behaviour, have even been adopted to model synaptic plasticity and axon guidance by molecular gradients. As a result, we can consider the behavioural scientist as dealing with models at a multiplicity of levels. The purpose of this Research Topic in Frontiers in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology is to promote an approach to the role of the levels and explanation and models which is of interest for cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, psychologists, behavioural scientists, and philosophers of science.
Download or read book Agent Based Computational Sociology written by Flaminio Squazzoni and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-04-23 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most of the intriguing social phenomena of our time, such as international terrorism, social inequality, and urban ethnic segregation, are consequences of complex forms of agent interaction that are difficult to observe methodically and experimentally. This book looks at a new research stream that makes use of advanced computer simulation modelling techniques to spotlight agent interaction that allows us to explain the emergence of social patterns. It presents a method to pursue analytical sociology investigations that look at relevant social mechanisms in various empirical situations, such as markets, urban cities, and organisations. This book: Provides a comprehensive introduction to epistemological, theoretical and methodological features of agent-based modelling in sociology through various discussions and examples. Presents the pros and cons of using agent-based models in sociology. Explores agent-based models in combining quantitative and qualitative aspects, and micro- and macro levels of analysis. Looks at how to pose an agent-based research question, identifying the model building blocks, and how to validate simulation results. Features examples of agent-based models that look at crucial sociology issues. Supported by an accompanying website featuring data sets and code for the models included in the book. Agent-Based Computational Sociology is written in a common sociological language and features examples of models that look at all the traditional explanatory challenges of sociology. Researchers and graduate students involved in the field of agent-based modelling and computer simulation in areas such as social sciences, cognitive sciences and computer sciences will benefit from this book.
Download or read book Interdisciplinary Applications of Agent Based Social Simulation and Modeling written by Adamatti, Diana Francisca and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2014-04-30 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social simulation can be a difficult discipline to encompass fully. There are many methods, models, directions, and theories that can be discussed and applied to various social sciences. Anthropology, sociology, political science, economy, government, and management can all benefit from social simulation. Interdisciplinary Applications of Agent-Based Social Simulation and Modeling aims to bring a different perspective to this interdisciplinary topic. This book presents current discussions and new insights on social simulation as a whole, focusing on its dangers, pitfalls, deceits, and challenges. This book is an essential reference for researchers in this field, professionals using social simulation, and even students studying this discipline.
Download or read book Introduction to Computational Social Science written by Claudio Cioffi-Revilla and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-06-29 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This textbook provides a comprehensive and reader-friendly introduction to the field of computational social science (CSS). Presenting a unified treatment, the text examines in detail the four key methodological approaches of automated social information extraction, social network analysis, social complexity theory, and social simulation modeling. This updated new edition has been enhanced with numerous review questions and exercises to test what has been learned, deepen understanding through problem-solving, and to practice writing code to implement ideas. Topics and features: contains more than a thousand questions and exercises, together with a list of acronyms and a glossary; examines the similarities and differences between computers and social systems; presents a focus on automated information extraction; discusses the measurement, scientific laws, and generative theories of social complexity in CSS; reviews the methodology of social simulations, covering both variable- and object-oriented models.
Download or read book Advances in Social Simulation 2015 written by Wander Jager and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book highlights recent developments in the field, presented at the Social Simulation 2015 conference in Groningen, The Netherlands. It covers advances both in applications and methods of social simulation. Societal issues addressed range across complexities in economic systems, opinion dynamics and civil violence, changing mobility patterns, different land-use, transition in the energy system, food production and consumption, ecosystem management and historical processes. Methodological developments cover how to use empirical data in validating models in general, formalization of behavioral theory in agent behavior, construction of artificial populations for experimentation, replication of models, and agent-based models that can be run in a web browser. Social simulation is a rapidly evolving field. Social scientists are increasingly interested in social simulation as a tool to tackle the complex non-linear dynamics of society. Furthermore, the software and hardware tools available for social simulation are becoming more and more powerful. This book is an important source for readers interested in the newest developments in the ways in which the simulation of social interaction contributes to our understanding and managing of complex social phenomena.
Download or read book Investigating Complex Phenomena Bridging between Systems Thinking and Modeling in Science Education written by Tom Bielik and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-11-15 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the complexity of the natural world and making sense of phenomena is one of the main goals of science and science education. When investigating complex phenomena, such as climate change or pandemic outbreaks, students are expected to engage in systems thinking by considering the boundaries of the investigated system, identifying the relevant components and their interactions, and exploring system attributes such as hierarchical organization, dynamicity, feedback loops, and emergence. Scientific models are tools that support students’ reasoning and understanding of complex systems, and students are expected to develop their modeling competence and to engage in the modeling process by constructing, testing, revising, and using models to explain and predict phenomena. Computational modeling tools, for example, provide students with the opportunity to explore big data, run simulations and investigate complex systems. Therefore, both systems thinking and modeling approaches are important for science education when investigating complex phenomena.
Download or read book Systems Science and Population Health written by Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Population health is complex and multileveled, encompassing dynamic interactions between cells, societies, and everything in between. Our typical approach to studying population health, however, remains oriented around a reductionist approach to conceptualizing, empirically analyzing, and intervening to improve population health. The trouble is that interventions founded on simplifying a complex world often do not work, sometimes yielding failure or, even worse, harm. The difficult truth is that "silver bullet" health science often fails, and understanding these failures can help us improve our approach to health science, and, ultimately, population health. SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND POPULATION HEALTH employs principles from across a range of sciences to refine the way we understand population health. By augmenting traditional analytic approaches with new tools like machine learning, microsimulation, and social network analysis, population health can be studied as a dynamic and complex system. This allows us to understand population health as a complex whole, offering new insights and perspectives that stand to improve the health of the public. This text offers the first educational and practical guide to this forward-thinking approach. Comprising 17 chapters from the vanguard of population health, epidemiology, computer science, and medicine, this book offers a three-part introduction to the subject: · An intellectual and conceptual history of systems science as it intersects with population health · Concise, introductory overviews of important and emerging methodological tools in systems science, including systems dynamics, agent-based modeling, microsimulation, social network analysis, and machine-learning-all with relevant examples drawn from population health literature · An exploration of future implications for systems science and its applications to our understanding of population health issues For researchers, students, and practitioners, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND POPULATION HEALTH redefines many of the foundational elements of how we understand population health. It should not be missed.
Download or read book Guide to Simulation Based Disciplines written by Saurabh Mittal and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-07-26 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This invaluable text/reference reviews the state of the art in simulation-based approaches across a wide range of different disciplines, and provides evidence of using simulation-based approaches to advance these disciplines. Highlighting the benefits that simulation can bring to any field, the volume presents case studies by the leading experts from such diverse domains as the life sciences, engineering, architecture, arts, and social sciences. Topics and features: includes review questions at the end of every chapter; provides a broad overview of the evolution of the concept of simulation, stressing its importance across numerous sectors and disciplines; addresses the role of simulation in engineering design, and emphasizes the benefits of integrating simulation into the systems engineering paradigm; explains the relation of simulation with Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things, and describes a simulation infrastructure for complex adaptive systems; investigates how simulation is used in the Software Design Life Cycle to assess complex solutions, and examines the use of simulation in architectural design; reviews the function and purpose of simulation within the context of the scientific method, and its contribution to healthcare and health education training; discusses the position of simulation in research in the social sciences, and describes the simulation of service systems for simulation-based enterprise management; describes the role of simulation in learning and education, as well as in in military training. With its near-exhaustive coverage of disciplines, this comprehensive collection is essential reading for all researchers, practitioners and students seeking insights into the use of various modeling paradigms and the need for robust simulation infrastructure to advance their field into a computational future.
