From Factors to Actors: Computational Sociology and Agent-Based Modeling Export

@article{citeulike:1477304, abstract = {Sociologists often model social processes as interactions among variables. We review an alternative approach that models social life as interactions among adaptive agents who influence one another in response to the influence they receive. These agent-based models (ABMs) show how simple and predictable local interactions can generate familiar but enigmatic global patterns, such as the diffusion of information, emergence of norms, coordination of conventions, or participation in collective action. Emergent social patterns can also appear unexpectedly and then just as dramatically transform or disappear, as happens in revolutions, market crashes, fads, and feeding frenzies. ABMs provide theoretical leverage where the global patterns of interest are more than the aggregation of individual attributes, but at the same time, the emergent pattern cannot be understood without a bottom up dynamical model of the microfoundations at the relational level.}, author = {Macy, Michael W. and Willer, Robert}, citeulike-article-id = {1477304}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141117}, journal = {Annual Review of Sociology}, keywords = {agent-based}, month = {August}, pages = {143--166}, posted-at = {2008-03-18 18:35:13}, priority = {5}, title = {From Factors to Actors: Computational Sociology and Agent-Based Modeling}, url = {http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141117}, volume = {28}, year = {2002} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1477304 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1477304 N2 - Sociologists often model social processes as interactions among variables. We review an alternative approach that models social life as interactions among adaptive agents who influence one another in response to the influence they receive. These agent-based models (ABMs) show how simple and predictable local interactions can generate familiar but enigmatic global patterns, such as the diffusion of information, emergence of norms, coordination of conventions, or participation in collective action. Emergent social patterns can also appear unexpectedly and then just as dramatically transform or disappear, as happens in revolutions, market crashes, fads, and feeding frenzies. ABMs provide theoretical leverage where the global patterns of interest are more than the aggregation of individual attributes, but at the same time, the emergent pattern cannot be understood without a bottom up dynamical model of the microfoundations at the relational level. JF - Annual Review of Sociology EP - 166 TI - From Factors to Actors: Computational Sociology and Agent-Based Modeling VL - 28 SP - 143 KW - agent-based AU - Macy, Michael AU - Willer, Robert PY - 2002/08// UR - http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141117 ER -