The Ground Truth program: simulations as test beds for social science research methods

Asmeret Naugle (), Adam Russell, Kiran Lakkaraju, Laura Swiler, Stephen Verzi and Vicente Romero
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Asmeret Naugle: Sandia National Laboratories
Adam Russell: Sandia National Laboratories
Kiran Lakkaraju: Sandia National Laboratories
Laura Swiler: Sandia National Laboratories
Stephen Verzi: Sandia National Laboratories
Vicente Romero: Sandia National Laboratories

Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, 2023, vol. 29, issue 1, No 1, 19 pages

Abstract: Abstract Social systems are uniquely complex and difficult to study, but understanding them is vital to solving the world’s problems. The Ground Truth program developed a new way of testing the research methods that attempt to understand and leverage the Human Domain and its associated complexities. The program developed simulations of social systems as virtual world test beds. Not only were these simulations able to produce data on future states of the system under various circumstances and scenarios, but their causal ground truth was also explicitly known. Research teams studied these virtual worlds, facilitating deep validation of causal inference, prediction, and prescription methods. The Ground Truth program model provides a way to test and validate research methods to an extent previously impossible, and to study the intricacies and interactions of different components of research.

Keywords: Human domain; Causal ground truth; Simulation test beds; Metascience; Complexity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s10588-021-09346-9

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