Simulation and Reality

1 Introduction

It is only a little simplistic to say that theories in the social sciences derive either from sociology or from economics. That is, they either draw generalizations from verbal descriptions of social interaction or from mathematical representations of interacting agents as constrained optimizers. The three models discussed in this paper are not less rigorous than economic models and, because they are validated relative to a formal logic rather than mathematics alone, capture much more of the richness of sociological analysis. Moreover, each has, in its own way, been developed to capture salient characteristics of observed regularities in actual social interactions.

The purpose of this paper is to present these models as examples of an integrated methodology which captures the rigour and precision of the economist's approach to the social sciences and while preserving the suggestiveness and richness of the sociologist's approach to the social sciences. The construction and experimentation of these models is related explicitly to their validation and verification.

Simulation and Reality - 20 MAY 98

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