Agent Based Models and the Science of Unintended Consequences of Social Action
Authored by Francisco Linares
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.5477/cis/reis.162.21
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Abstract
The aim of this article is to defend the thesis that agent-based models
(ABMs) permit us to successfully address the problem of the micro-macro
connection in the social scienes. The argument is developed in four
stages: First, we argue that the social sciences requires a theory of
action constructed over a concrete explanatory mechanism, referred to as
a ``principle of action{''}. Following, we examine how the micro-macro
connection has often been theorised in sociology using what can be
referred to as an ``interactionist transition model{''}. Thirdly, we
show that ABMs fit the properties of the interactionist transition
model, while contributing specific explanatory mechanisms. Lastly, the
argument is illustrated through an analyis of the social reproduction of
educational inequalities.
Tags
Social simulation
generative social science
Mechanisms
Sociology
Educational inequalities
Explanatory
mechanism
Abm model
Principle of action
Analytical
sociology