Call for expression of interest
Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence Using Social Simulation
A proposal for a NIAS-Lorentz Workshop
Topic
It is a principle of science that evidence should not be ignored without an extremely good reason. Thus, researchers are under an obligation to take note of both qualitative and quantitative evidence. However, integrating different kinds of evidence is far from easy, as both kinds of evidence have their own characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. As such, translations between qualitative and quantitative representations is fraught with traps, including the inclusion of hidden assumptions, the addition of systematic bias and cross-context misapplication. However, agent-based social simulation offers a well-founded way of doing this translation by using narrative accounts to inform the specification of agent behaviour and comparing macro-level measures on runs of the simulation with numerical data. In this approach, the simulation forms a kind of bridge between the micro-level qualitative behaviours and the macro-level aggregate outcomes. Following a special issue on this topic in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation (http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/18/1/) and several sessions at the Social Simulation Conference (2014, 2016, 2017), we feel that there is the time to get together researchers who are (or want to) contribute to this endeavour, in order to design a strategy for structuring and developing the field. We would like to gather these researchers together for a NIAS-Lorentz Workshop (http://www.nias-lorentz.nl/workshops-.html) during which we will: identify the key challenges, difficulties, and opportunities of the field; design an action plan to address these challenges and difficulties and follow the opportunities; exchange practices and identify possible collaborations; establish a strategy for consolidating the nascent community of academics in this topic.
Target Dates for Workshop
We would like the workshop to happen during the period 06-10 May 2019, with possible alternatives 19-23 August 2019 and 02-06 September 2019 (dates might change depending on the availability of the venue).
NIAS-Lorentz Workshops
Lorentz workshop (http://lorentzcenter.nl) are very special and highly productive events where a group of (in this case 25) people interact over a whole week. Thus it is essential that participants stay for the duration. Usually various papers, grant proposals and other collaborations come out of these workshops.
The Costs etc
Lunches, tea/coffee, the evening welcome reception and workshop dinner are all provided. There is a deal for a local nice hotel at €85 a night. There will be some monetary support for early stage researchers who can not otherwise afford this (hotel + up to €300 travel).
What you have to do
If you wish to attend you need to write a few paragraphs explaining your relevant research, position and interest in this topic. Please send this to Melania Borit <melania.borit@uit.no> by the 283rd May.
Organisers:
- (Coordinator) Melania Borit, Associated professor of Social Simulation and Game-Based Learning, at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT (University of Tromsø) – The Arctic University of Norway, Norway. melania.borit@uit.no
- Stephanie Dornschneider, Assistant professor, University College Dublin, Ireland, stephanie.dornschneider@ucd.ie
- Bruce Edmonds, Director of the Centre for Policy Modelling and Professor of Social Simulation, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. bruce@edmonds.name
- Magnús Josefsson, Research Program Manager, Reykjavik SMART City, Iceland, Magnus.Yngvi.Josefsson@reykjavik.is
- Sarah Mehryar, PhD candidate, University of Twente, the Netherlands, s.mehryar@utwente.nl.
- Nanda Wijermans, Researcher, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden. nanda.wijermans@su.se