Seminar 2: My kingdom for a function!
Seminar 2. My Kingdom for a function! What is gained by quantifying complex social science research?
Date: Friday 9 May 2014
In this seminar, we consider the pros and cons involved in quantifying complex social systems. We consider what is gained and lost by quantifying complex social systems. We start from the assumption that each methodological approach will bring its own strengths and weaknesses. So, the question isn't so much 'Which method is best?', but rather 'What else can we do based on what we already know does and/or doesn't work?' We are especially concerned with the extent to which quantitative methods are sufficient and/or necessary to model and know complex social systems for policy planning purposes. FullAGENDA here; links to talks below.
Speakers
PROF. PETER ALLEN (Emeritus Professor, School of Management, Cranfield University; Former Director and founder of the Complex Systems Research Centre; Editor in Chief of the Journal Emergence: Complexity and Organization)
Title: Unending Inductive / Deductive Methods in Complex Social Systems
PROF. BRIAN CASTELLANI (Sociology, Kent State Univeristy, USA, University; Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Northeast Ohio Medical University; Director of Complexity and Health Group, Kent State)
Title: Modelling Complex Systems: A Case-Based Computational Approach
DR RAJEEV RAJARAM (Mathematical Sciences, Kent State, US)
Title: Modelling Trajectories and Densities across Time: A Computational Approach using Differential Equations
PROF. NIGEL GILBERT (Sociology, Surrey, Director Centre for Research in Social Simulation; Editor, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation)
Title: Simulating Societies: A Computational Approach to Social Science
PROF. ROBERT MACKAY (Mathematics, Warwick, Director Mathematical Interdisciplinary Research, Director of Centre for Complexity Science)
Title: Understanding, Prediction, Control and Design