3 ms·

Maybe it's just me, but when I hear "computational social science" I first think of agent-based modeling. But yes, when I look at recent work, it's all about st

by wrp 3y ago

Maybe it's just me, but when I hear "computational social science" I first think of agent-based modeling. But yes, when I look at recent work, it's all about statistical analysis of historical data. Ugh... So why can't we just call it that? Maybe it's justified to emphasize the computational aspect because of the scale of operation these days.

Anon84 3y ago
Ah, yes... that's the original version of Computational Social Science before the Physicists came into the science. You're probably familiar with R. Axelrod's work [1], and J. Epstein has an excellent book on it[1] C. Cioffi-Revilla has another excellent book that tries to straddle/review both sides of the fence: [2] [1] The Complexity of Cooperation - https://amzn.to/3ZDJ5GW https://amzn.to/3ZDJ5GW [2] Generative Social Science - https://amzn.to/3PE6gw7 https://amzn.to/3PE6gw7 [3] Introduction to Computational Social Science - https://amzn.to/46cNMtW https://amzn.to/46cNMtW
- uoaei 3y ago
  Maybe I'm in the minority but as a physicist it makes perfect sense to model micro-interactions to estimate emergent macro-scale patterns. What is your experience with "physicists" in the derogatory?
  - wrp 3y ago
    Three issues to distinguish here. Parent is referring to a change in usage of "computational social science" from meaning agent-based modeling to meaning statistical data analysis. This change in usage may have been driven by physicists moving into social science. You ask about modeling based on micro-interactions, which parent mentioned but did not comment on. You seem to ask why social scientists might be skeptical of physicists contributing to social science. My observation is that physicists tend to be extremely naive about the high dimensionality and nonlinearity of social science phenomena.
    - uoaei 3y ago
      Agent-based modeling is a form of modeling which explicates micro interactions to imply macro patterns. That is the connection here. Your comment looks like it was written by ChatGPT. It misses basic implications about agent-based modeling and has a lot of emphasis on "you seem to mean..." phrasing. Am I close, and if not, was this intentional?
      - wrp 3y ago
        It's just my natural pedantry from years of helping students clarify their research statements. :-)
  - Anon84 3y ago
    I'm a physics PhD... so it's a bit of self-deprecating humor. As a wise man once said, the 10 scariest words for a social scientist are, "I'm from the Physics department, and I'm here to help". On a slightly more serious note, Physicists (and I've certainly been guilty of this as well) aren't always humble enough to learn why a specific field does things the way they do before immediately trying to impose their own approach (Ising models all the way down!)

by wrp 3y ago

Anon84 3y ago

Ah, yes... that's the original version of Computational Social Science before the Physicists came into the science. You're probably familiar with R. Axelrod's work [1], and J. Epstein has an excellent book on it[1] C. Cioffi-Revilla has another excellent book that tries to straddle/review both sides of the fence: [2] [1] The Complexity of Cooperation - https://amzn.to/3ZDJ5GW https://amzn.to/3ZDJ5GW [2] Generative Social Science - https://amzn.to/3PE6gw7 https://amzn.to/3PE6gw7 [3] Introduction to Computational Social Science - https://amzn.to/46cNMtW https://amzn.to/46cNMtW

uoaei 3y ago
Maybe I'm in the minority but as a physicist it makes perfect sense to model micro-interactions to estimate emergent macro-scale patterns. What is your experience with "physicists" in the derogatory?
- wrp 3y ago
  Three issues to distinguish here. Parent is referring to a change in usage of "computational social science" from meaning agent-based modeling to meaning statistical data analysis. This change in usage may have been driven by physicists moving into social science. You ask about modeling based on micro-interactions, which parent mentioned but did not comment on. You seem to ask why social scientists might be skeptical of physicists contributing to social science. My observation is that physicists tend to be extremely naive about the high dimensionality and nonlinearity of social science phenomena.
  - uoaei 3y ago
    Agent-based modeling is a form of modeling which explicates micro interactions to imply macro patterns. That is the connection here. Your comment looks like it was written by ChatGPT. It misses basic implications about agent-based modeling and has a lot of emphasis on "you seem to mean..." phrasing. Am I close, and if not, was this intentional?
    - wrp 3y ago
      It's just my natural pedantry from years of helping students clarify their research statements. :-)
- Anon84 3y ago
  I'm a physics PhD... so it's a bit of self-deprecating humor. As a wise man once said, the 10 scariest words for a social scientist are, "I'm from the Physics department, and I'm here to help". On a slightly more serious note, Physicists (and I've certainly been guilty of this as well) aren't always humble enough to learn why a specific field does things the way they do before immediately trying to impose their own approach (Ising models all the way down!)