Scott Moss wrote:
> My claim is that such models can be used in a process that grounds social
>theory in observation rather than philosophy.
>
I think this is exactly the point of departure between us. "Observation" is
not a "clean" category. Observation (perception) does not map seamlessly
from the material, social/cultural world to understanding. Observations
take on meaning for us when they are categorised by a human mind and
organised causally or descriptively. Observations thus contain embedded
theories (or ways or organising our experiences if you wish). We all have
theories and it is probably uncontentious to say that it is generally
accepted that theoretical stances are related to certain ontological and
epistemological positions - i.e. what the universe is for us as human
beings and how we can learn about it.
There can be no observation separate from theory, and no theory divorced
from ontology and epistemology. So the question is, as Keith asked in
effect some time earlier, do you make up your own theories or draw on
existing substantive work in other social sciences.
This brings me to the first part of your response:
>The question is not _whether_ a theoretical grounding is desirable but _how_ a
>theoretical grounding is to be established for representational social
>simulation
>models.
By using models to test existing social science theory. George J.
Gumerman's and Timothy Kohler's recent excellent book "Dynamics in Human
and Primate Societies" has some great examples of what I mean.
AD
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Dr. Alan Dean
Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology
School of Comparative and Applied Social Sciences
The University of Hull
Hull
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UK
Phone: +44 (1482) 465743
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Fax: +44 (1482) 466306
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