GETTING AWAY FROM NUMBERS: USING QUALITATIVE OBSERVATION FOR AGENT-BASED MODELING

Lu Yang () and Nigel Gilbert ()
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Lu Yang: Centre for Research in Social Simulation, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK
Nigel Gilbert: Centre for Research in Social Simulation, Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), 2008, vol. 11, issue 02, pages 175-185

Abstract: Although in many social sciences there is a radical division between studies based on quantitative (e.g. statistical) and qualitative (e.g. ethnographic) methodologies and their associated epistemological commitments, agent-based simulation fits into neither camp, and should be capable of modelling both quantitative and qualitative data. Nevertheless, most agent-based models (ABMs) are founded on quantitative data. This paper explores some of the methodological and practical problems involved in basing an ABM on qualitative participant observation and proposes some advice for modelers.

Keywords: Agent-based models; qualitative data; ethnography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008

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