Model Co-creation from a Modeler’s Perspective: Lessons Learned from the Collaboration Between Ethnographers and Modelers

Padilla, José J.; Frydenlund, Erika; Wallewik, Hege; Haaland, Hanne

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93372-6_8

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Just because field observations cannot be communicated as datasets of sufficient size for statistical predictive analysis to be performed does not mean that the insights contained within are insufficient for testing theories and offering testable insights. In fact, as I have argued elsewhere Padilla et al 2018aPadilla et al , 2018b, qualitative approaches such as ethnographic research are rich in descriptions of actors, relationships, and dynamics that are necessary to build simulation models (Colson 2007). I would even go so far as to say that qualitative research and simulation modeling belong together (Frydenlund and de Kock 2020; Frydenlund and Padilla 2021, forthcoming).…”

Section: Interpretivist Approaches and Mands Belong Togethermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the vast majority of simulationists are engineers, mathematicians, and physical scientists (Padilla et al 2018a(Padilla et al , 2018b, simulation in the social sciences has grown dramatically in the past two decades in both quantity and diversity of scholarship (Hauke, Lorscheid and Meyer 2017). Unlike those disciplines, however, much of the focus on social simulation has not been prediction and instead turns to other purposes for modeling.…”

Section: Interpretivist Approaches and Mands Belong Togethermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, much of human migration-related simulation modeling has had a specific policy focus, as I discuss in this article, but there is an array of other uses-from theory building to generating new research questions-that has yet to be fully realized in the field. While M&S has been accepted for decades in the physical, medical, and engineering sciences, there is much to be gained from promoting the use of M&S in forced migration research that goes beyond models of prediction and towards methods that increase scholarly exploration and methodological rigor (Padilla et al 2018b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling and Simulation as a Bridge to Advance Practical and Theoretical Insights About Forced Migration Studies

Frydenlund

2021

Journal on Migration and Human Security

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Modeling and Simulation (M&S) is a relatively unused research approach in forced migration studies. In most of its application areas, M&S is applied in several broad thematic policy-oriented topics: predicting human movement, humanitarian logistics, communicable diseases, healthcare, policing, and economics. More recently, there has been increased use of M&S in predicting human movement and health impacts resulting from climate change. Computer modeling has benefits for both policy and theoretical advancements in the field. M&S is often associated as a predictive tool that appeals to policymakers and planners. But M&S has many other significant benefits. For policymakers and planners, M&S provides a simulated environment to explore “what-if” scenarios. These scenarios can be adjusted to reflect different assumptions and conditions in the field. M&S can provide a means for translating interpretivist research findings—themselves rich in descriptions of actors, relationships, and dynamics—into visual artifacts that can communicate results to policymakers. It also can help to test the assumptions of theoretical findings, explore generalizability to other cases and conditions, and inform future data collection efforts. On the other hand, because models can take a long time to construct and test, they cannot provide rapid insights about evolving situations to inform decision-making at the onset of a new emergency. Data dashboards, the staple of modern humanitarian operations, are better for identifying emergent needs and tracking efforts. However, modeling what we know from one situation allows us to use those insights in systematic and strategic ways to improve operations for the future. M&S can also provide researchers with an additional tool that allows improved integration of multiple data types and sources. These data, assumptions, and theoretical constructs can be linked together in a complex, nonlinear, dynamic system that can then be set in motion to see if the simulated world reveals phenomena that are witnessed in the real world. But interdisciplinary communication and collaboration is hard and finding modelers who value interpretivist research can be even harder. M&S is not a silver bullet but provides a unique approach that incorporates dynamics and is becoming increasingly accessible to policymakers, practitioners, and academics, including those without computer programing experience. For policy, it is important to invest the time and resources to develop simulation models—from simple to complex—that help when planning for the evolution of events, or for the next event. Models of current refugee situations should inform where to concentrate efforts to advance durable solutions and how to plan for potential scenarios of return to countries of origin. Policymakers must recognize the long-term value of modeling what we know now to use later. Researchers of migration should become familiar with M&S paradigms so they can become part of the model design, development, and testing phases—at least part of the conversation. Better integration of migration scholars in design and development has the potential to strengthen models for policymaking, but perhaps more importantly, to strengthen the field by serving as an extra tool for testing theories, assumptions, and generalizability of findings to other locations and situations.

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Section: Interpretivist Approaches and Mands Belong Togethermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interpretivist Approaches and Mands Belong Togethermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling and Simulation as a Bridge to Advance Practical and Theoretical Insights About Forced Migration Studies

Frydenlund

2021

Journal on Migration and Human Security

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“…In addition to strengthening the collaboration between UiA, CMAC, and VMASC, the MODRN project also laid the groundwork for the founding of the NORCE Center for Modeling Social Systems (CMSS) in January of 2018. Some of the MODRN models were explicitly oriented toward understanding and responding to the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, whose causes and consequences involved variables related to religiosity, humanitarian aid, and peacebuilding (Padilla et al, 2018;Paloutzian et al, 2021). MRP and MODRN overlapped both conceptually and temporally, and included many of the same team members who collaborated in the development of a variety of computational models for studying (non)religion.…”

Section: The Modeling (Non)religion Project(s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating Secularities: Challenges and Opportunities in the Computational Science of (Non)Religion

Shults

2021

Secularism and Nonreligion

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This article provides scholars of nonreligion and secularism with an introduction to some of the major opportunities and challenges associated with the growing application of computational methods to the phenomena they study. It also illustrates these opportunities and challenges by describing several overlapping research projects and some of the models of (non)religion they have produced. Finally, the article addresses some of the significant philosophical issues surrounding the use of computer modeling and simulation, focusing on the ethical and epistemological concerns that these tools often raise. I invite scholars of nonreligion to consider adding these techniques to their methodological toolkits, and to join in on the fascinating and important conversations about simulating secularities that these models engender.

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“…This makes sense not only because the SMEs, policy professionals, stakeholders, and change agents have the knowledge necessary to help the simulation engineers construct more realistic simulated agents and social networks but also because their participation helps to ensure that the problem and solution spaces are as relevant as possible for addressing real-world societal challenges. The human-simulation approach requires sensitivity and openness on the part of all collaborators, and this sort of experimentation with transdisciplinary teams continues to lead to new insights for participatory modeling [74,75].…”

Section: The "Human Simulation" Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Simulation and Sustainability: Ontological, Epistemological, and Ethical Reflections

Shults

Wildman

2020

Sustainability

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This article begins with a brief outline of recent advances in the application of computer modeling to sustainability research, identifying important gaps in coverage and associated limits in methodological capability, particularly in regard to taking account of the tangled human factors that are often impediments to a sustainable future. It then describes some of the ways in which a new transdisciplinary approach within “human simulation” can contribute to the further development of sustainability modeling, more effectively addressing such human factors through its emphasis on stakeholder, policy professional, and subject matter expert participation, and its focus on constructing more realistic cognitive architectures and artificial societies. Finally, the article offers philosophical reflections on some of the ontological, epistemological, and ethical issues raised at the intersection of sustainability research and social simulation, considered in light of the importance of human factors, including values and worldviews, in the modeling process. Based on this philosophical analysis, we encourage more explicit conversations about the value of naturalism and secularism in finding and facilitating effective and ethical strategies for sustainable development.

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Model Co-creation from a Modeler’s Perspective: Lessons Learned from the Collaboration Between Ethnographers and Modelers

Cited by 9 publications

References 5 publications

Modeling and Simulation as a Bridge to Advance Practical and Theoretical Insights About Forced Migration Studies

Modeling and Simulation as a Bridge to Advance Practical and Theoretical Insights About Forced Migration Studies

Simulating Secularities: Challenges and Opportunities in the Computational Science of (Non)Religion

Human Simulation and Sustainability: Ontological, Epistemological, and Ethical Reflections

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