Epistemological Aspects of Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences

1. Front Matter

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2. EPOS-Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation: An Introduction

   1. EPOS-Epistemological Perspectives on Simulation: An Introduction

      • Ulrich Frank, Flaminio Squazzoni, Klaus G. Troitzsch

      Pages 1-11

3. Invited Papers

   1. The Epistemologies of Social Simulation Research

      • Nigel Gilbert, Petra Ahrweiler

      Pages 12-28

   2. From Simulation to Theory (and Backward)

      • Rosaria Conte

      Pages 29-47

4. Selected Papers

   1. Talking about ABSS: Functional Descriptions of Models

      • Scott Moss

      Pages 48-59

   2. What Does Emergence in Computer Simulations? Simulation between Epistemological and Ontological Emergence

      • Alex Schmid

      Pages 60-68

   3. Emergence as an Explanatory Principle in Artificial Societies. Reflection on the Bottom-Up Approach to Social Theory

      • Martin Neumann

      Pages 69-88

   4. Reconstruction Failures: Questioning Level Design

      • Camille Roth

      Pages 89-98

   5. Narrative Scenarios, Mediating Formalisms, and the Agent-Based Simulation of Land Use Change

      • Nicholas M. Gotts, J. Gary Polhill

      Pages 99-116

   6. Validation and Verification in Social Simulation: Patterns and Clarification of Terminology

      • Nuno David

      Pages 117-129

   7. Validation and Verification of Agent-Based Models in the Social Sciences

      • Paul Ormerod, Bridget Rosewell

      Pages 130-140

   8. Abductive Fallacies with Agent-Based Modeling and System Dynamics

      • Tobias Lorenz

      Pages 141-152

   9. Algorithmic Analysis of Production Systems Used as Agent-Based Social Simulation Models

      • Jim Doran

      Pages 153-168

   10. The Nature of Noise

       • Bruce Edmonds

       Pages 169-182

5. Back Matter

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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.

• Computer
• abduction
• agent communication
• agent discovery
• agent-based modeling
• agent-based simulation
• algorithms
• artificial societies
• calculus
• complex systems
• epistemology
• methodology
• model a
• modeling
• verification

• Department of Social Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy

  Flaminio Squazzoni

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