Agent-Based Models in Empirical Social Research

Abstract

Agent-based modeling has become increasingly popular in recent years, but there is still no codified set of recommendations or practices for how to use these models within a program of empirical research. This article provides ideas and practical guidelines drawn from sociology, biology, computer science, epidemiology, and statistics. We first discuss the motivations for using agent-based models in both basic science and policy-oriented social research. Next, we provide an overview of methods and strategies for incorporating data on behavior and populations into agent-based models, and review techniques for validating and testing the sensitivity of agent-based models. We close with suggested directions for future research.

Analytical sociology and computational social science

“…Empirically calibrated agent-based models are one important tool that exemplify this development [14][15][16]. In order to avoid basing the analysis on implausible or arbitrary assumptions that could threaten the explanatory power of the analysis, detailed empirical analyses are used to inform the specification of the agent-based simulation model and to decide upon realistic parameter values.…”

Some considerations concerning the challenge of incorporating social variables into epidemiological models of infectious disease transmission

“…The practical public health questions a model aims to address influence the level of model complexity (Bruch & Atwell, 2013). While a given epidemiological pattern can be described with a parsimonious model incorporating aggregated variables, assessment of the effectiveness of control or surveillance scenarios targeted to a social, economic or spatial stratum or segment of the population will require disaggregating those variables, and introducing new parameters.…”

“…We do not concern ourselves here with how individual actions aggregate into emergent properties. This is indeed an extremely important scientific question, which has rightly received considerable attention (Bruch & Atwell, 2013;Grimm & Railsback, 2004;Grimm et al, 2005;Levin, 1999). Instead, we propose treating emergent properties as variables of interest in understanding social behaviours relevant to infectious disease transmission; variables and processes leading to the emergence of these properties would not be modelled.…”

Research on Urban Environment System Based on Complex and Uncertainty Theory

“…Eco-city, different from the general concept of the city, it is not a closed system, but a complex system involving urban natural ecosystems, urban artificial environment systems, economic systems and social systems [3][4][5]. It requires both to ensure the sustained economic growth rate, but also to ensure the quality of economic growth, while the ecological city but also to meet the basic needs of residents [6].…”