Methodological investigations in agent-based modelling : with applications for the social sciences
Autor
Silverman, Eric
Courgeau, Daniel
Franck, Robert
Bijak, Jakub
Hilton, Jason
Noble, Jason
Bryden, John
Institución
Resumen
Following the aims of the Methodos Series perfectly, this 13th volume on agentbased models provides a general view of the problems raised by this approach and
shows how these problems may be solved.
These methods are derived from computer simulation studies used by mathematicians and physicists. They are now applied in many social disciplines such as
artificial life (Alife), political sciences, evolutionary psychology, demography, and
many others. Those who introduced them often took care not to consider each social
science separately but to view them as a whole, incorporating a wide spectrum of
social processes – demographic, economic, sociological, political, and so on.
Rather than modelling specific data, this approach models theoretical ideas and
is based on computer simulation. Its aim is to understand how the behaviour of
biological, social, or more complex systems arises from the characteristics of the
individuals or agents composing the said system. As Billari and Prskawetz (2003,
p. 42) said.