This paper uses interview data from retired households to inform a discussion about economic models of consumption. It is divided into two parts. In the first part, the economic models are described. The paper then discusses several different types of reasons for finding them unhelpful in...

This note discusses two challenges to simulating the social process of science. The first is developing an adequately rich representation of the underlying Data Generation Process which scientific progress can \"learn\". The second is how to get effective data on what, in broad terms, the...

This article has two goals. Firstly, it shows how a relatively novel technique (Agent Based Modelling, hereafter ABM) can integrate different data types that are often used only in separate strands of research (interviews, experiments and surveys). It does this by comparing a well-known ABM of...

This paper attempts to illustrate the importance of a coherent behavioural interpretation in applying evolutionary algorithms like Genetic Algorithms and Genetic Programming to the modelling of social processes. It summarises and draws out the implications of the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis for...

Although Agent Based Models (hereafter ABM) are now regularly reported in sociology journals, explaining the approach, describing models and reporting results leaves little opportunity to examine wider implications of ABM for sociological practice. This article uses an established ABM (the...