An invited talk at Social Simulation 2018
This points out how context-sensitivity is fundamental to much human
social behaviour, but largely bypassed or ignored in social science. I
more formal social science, it is usual to assume or fit universal
models, even if this covers a lot of different contexts. In qualitative
social science context is almost deified, and any generalisation across
contexts is passed on to those that learn from it. Agent-based modelling
allows for context-sensitive models to be developed and hence the role
of context explored and better understood. The talk discussed a
framework for analysing narrative text using the
Context-Scope-Narrative-Elements (CSNE) framework. It also illustrates a
cognitive model that allows for context-dependent knowledge to be
implemented wthin an agent in a simulation. The talk ends with a plea to
avoid uncecessary or premature summarisation (using averages etc.).
Slides at: https://www.slideshare.net/BruceEdmonds/how-social-simulation-could-help-social-science-deal-with-context
