Abstract
Social scientists have used computation since the days of the earliest digital computers. What is the role of computation in contemporary Computational Social Science (CSS) theory and research? How does computation provide a deeper understanding of social complexity? This chapter is not an introduction to computing for social scientists. Rather, it is an examination of computation from a CSS perspective; similar to how a computational astronomer or a computational biologist would discuss the function of computation in their respective disciplines. After examining key similarities and differences between computers and social systems, from an information-processing perspective, the chapter takes a closer look at programming languages and aspects of implementation. Classes, objects, and dynamics are examined from the perspective of social theories and the role computational entities play in the conduct of CSS research. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is used as a systematic graphic notation for representing social entities, relations, and interactions, based on a variety of examples drawn from across social science domains. Data structures and algorithms, which are foundational to computation, are examined in the context of CSS research.
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Notes
- 1.
For example, applied computer scientists work on areas such as robotics, data analysis, and optimization, to name some of the major areas of research in computer science.
- 2.
The material in this chapter assumes a level of computer science knowledge comparable to Eric Grimson and John Guttag’s famous MIT course (Grimson and Guttag 2008) or Guttag (2013).
- 3.
In social science, data and information denote different concepts. Data (the lower level concept) normally refers to raw observations, such as field data or census data, whereas information (higher level) is based on, or is derived from, data and provides a basis for knowledge. Data is the plural of datum (or fact, in Latin), so the correct phrases are “one datum” and “several data”.
- 4.
The case of Java is somewhat hybrid: Java is technically compiled into Java byte code, and then just-in-time compiled into machine code by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM)—which can be viewed as a byte code interpreter.
- 5.
Linguists would also add genetics, the origin of a specific language. For example, the Python programming language was created by Guido van Rossum in the late 1980s and has since evolved into version 3 (as of this writing), supported by a global community.
- 6.
By contrast, bad programming habits include lack of modularity, hazardous loops that can easily spin forever, “stringy” code, and comments that are unclear, unhelpful, quirky, or plain absent. Good coders avoid these and other bad habits and strive to develop an excellent, “tight” style, as discussed later in this chapter.
- 7.
This is a significant advantage of OOP that will arise again in various chapters. The main idea of the object-orientation to programming is that basic social entities and relations are identified first; all the rest (variables, data, parameters, equations) come later.
- 8.
By contrast, a so-called declarative style of programming emphasizes the desired result of a program, not the instructions necessary to produce results.
- 9.
Computer programs are artifacts—in the sense of Simon —which sometimes, in turn, provide support to other artifacts. An example of this is a spacecraft. As of early 2012 the International Space Station orbiting Earth—one of the world’s most complex adaptive artifacts—was supported by computer programs with approximately 2.3 million LOC, a figure always increasing with growing project complexity until the ISS mission is completed. Unfortunately, however, LOC per se are not a good proxy measure for algorithmic or software complexity: high LOC may reflect mere lack of expertise, whereas low LOC may result from overly complicated implementations, instead of simpler, maintainable versions that would require more LOC.
- 10.
A little-known fact among many social scientists is that the theory of mechanics in physics is built around the abstraction of single- and two-body problems. Already three-body problems are hugely difficult by comparison; and, most interesting, N-body problems defy mathematical solution in closed form.
- 11.
Interestingly, humanistic fields such as music and ballet also use systems of specialized notation, far beyond what is used in traditional social science. In music, Guido d’Arezzo [b. A.D. 991 (or 992), d. 1050] is considered the founder of the modern music staff; in ballet, Rudolf von Laban [b. 1879, d. 1958] invented the symbolic system known as “labanotation” (Morasso and Tagliasco 1986).
- 12.
The late international relations theoretician Glenn H. Snyder [1924–2013] spoke often about this dichotomy, which he attributed to the philosopher of science, S. Toulmin.
- 13.
A boolean variable is called an “indicator variable” in probability and a “dummy variable” in social statistics and econometrics. (Dummy? As supposed to what? A strange phrase, don’t you think?).
- 14.
Winston Churchill (1948) said: “History is simply one damned thing after another.”.
- 15.
The idea of a tightly coupled relation between system and environment is also well-captured by the Spanish maxim, “Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia” (I am I and my circumstance), by José Ortega y Gasset (1914).
- 16.
For now, we do not care about the various features of entities. We will explore that in the next section.
- 17.
The three terms are synonymous. Target system is more common in simulation research, as we will see later. All three terms mean the same: the system-of-interest in the real, empirical world.
- 18.
The “state diagram” is also known as a “state machine diagram.” We will use the simpler term “state diagram,” without loss of meaning.
- 19.
A compound social entity C may be thought of in a similar way as a compound event in probability theory. Accordingly, C consists of several smaller parts or subsystems “smaller” than C, similar to the way in which a compound event is defined as a function of its conjunctive elementary events (sample points).
- 20.
By contrast, archaeologists draw timelines from bottom to top, consistent with stratigraphic analysis, such that the oldest date is at the base.
- 21.
There are as many kinds of data structures as there are ways in which information can be organized. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides a comprehensive, encyclopedic online survey (Black 2004).
- 22.
Interestingly, the structure of a terrorist organization is also that of a cellular network, as we shall see later on. What does Parnas ’ Principle suggest in the context of terrorist organizations, terrorism in general, or counterterrorism policy analysis? Which of those insights derived from a CSS approach are also available from traditional social science perspectives?.
- 23.
The term isomorphism comes from mathematics, where it means having the same formalism or equation in different domains. For example, a cannonball shot (physics) and a parabolic demand function (economics) are said to be isomorphic since both are described by a second degree polynomial, \(y(x) = a + bx + cx^{2}\). Similarly, social transactions between two populations (human geography) and gravitational attraction between two masses (physics) follow an isomorphic inverse-square law, \(y = kS_{1}S_{2}/D^2\), where S and D denote sizes (for populations and masses) and distance between them, respectively. Two systems are said to be isomorphic if the relevant equations obey the same mathematical form.
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Cioffi-Revilla, C. (2017). Computation and Social Science. In: Introduction to Computational Social Science. Texts in Computer Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50131-4_2
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