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Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences

Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences PDF Author: Flaminio Squazzoni
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364201108X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Book Description
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.

Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences

Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences PDF Author: Flaminio Squazzoni
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364201108X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Book Description
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.

Science in the Age of Computer Simulation

Science in the Age of Computer Simulation PDF Author: Eric Winsberg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226902048
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Book Description
"Digital computer simulation helps study phenomena of great complexity, but how much do we know about the limits and possibilities of this new scientific practice? How do simulations compare to traditional experiments? And are they reliable? Scrutinizing these issues with a philosophical lens, Eric Winsberg explores the impact of simulation on such issues as the nature of scientific evidence, the role of values in science, the nature and role of fictions in science, and the relationship between simulation and experiment, theories and data, and theories at different levels of description"--Cover.

Simulating Social Complexity

Simulating Social Complexity PDF Author: Bruce Edmonds
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319669486
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 833

Book Description
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.

Handbook of Computational Social Science, Volume 1

Handbook of Computational Social Science, Volume 1 PDF Author: Uwe Engel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000448614
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 485

Book Description
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.

Computer Simulation Validation

Computer Simulation Validation PDF Author: Claus Beisbart
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319707663
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 1056

Book Description
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.

Practicing Safe Sects

Practicing Safe Sects PDF Author: F. LeRon Shults
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004360956
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Book Description
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?

What levels of explanation in the behavioural sciences?

What levels of explanation in the behavioural sciences? PDF Author: Giuseppe Boccignone
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 288919597X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 93

Book Description
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.

Calculated Surprises

Calculated Surprises PDF Author: Johannes Lenhard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190873299
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
If all philosophy starts with wondering, then Calculated Surprises starts with wondering about how computers are changing the face and inner workings of science. In this book, Lenhard concentrates on the ways in which computers and simulation are transforming the established conception of mathematical modeling. His core thesis is that simulation modeling constitutes a new mode of mathematical modeling that rearranges and inverts key features of the established conception. Although most of these new key features--such as experimentation, exploration, or epistemic opacity--have their precursors, the new ways in which they are being combined is generating a distinctive style of scientific reasoning. Lenhard also documents how simulation is affecting fundamental concepts of solution, understanding, and validation. He feeds these transformations back into philosophy of science, thereby opening up new perspectives on longstanding oppositions. By combining historical investigations with practical aspects, Calculated Surprises is accessible for a broad audience of readers. Numerous case studies covering a wide range of simulation techniques are balanced with broad reflections on science and technology. Initially, what computers are good at is calculating with a speed and accuracy far beyond human capabilities. Lenhard goes further and investigates the emerging characteristics of computer-based modeling, showing how this simple observation is creating a number of surprising challenges for the methodology and epistemology of science. These calculated surprises will attract both philosophers and scientific practitioners who are interested in reflecting on recent developments in science and technology.

Agent-Based Computational Sociology

Agent-Based Computational Sociology PDF Author: Flaminio Squazzoni
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470711744
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
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.

Interdisciplinary Applications of Agent-Based Social Simulation and Modeling

Interdisciplinary Applications of Agent-Based Social Simulation and Modeling PDF Author: Adamatti, Diana Francisca
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1466659556
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Book Description
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.