An ethnographic seduction: How qualitative research and agent-based models can benefit each other

Overview & Synopsis

A general analytical framework for empirically informed agent-based simulations. We believe that this methodology provides present-day agent-based models with a sound and proper insight as to the behavior of social agents - an insight that statistical data often fall short of providing at least at a micro level and for hidden and sensitive populations. In the other direction, simulations can provide qualitative researchers in sociology, anthropology and other fields with valuable tools for : (a) testing the consistency and pushing the boundaries, of specific theoretical frameworks ; (b) replicating and generalizing results ; (c) providing a platform for cross-disciplinary validation of results. Key Words : agent-based models, ethnography, qualitative data, transdisciplinarity.