Sociologica
N. 1/2008
Doi: 10.2383/26578
Copyright © 2008 by Società editrice il Mulino, Bologna
Focus
The Micro-Macro Link in Social Simulation
Abstract
This paper aims to look at the problem of the
micro-macro link in sociology from the new prospective of social simulation. The
adoption of a sociology modelling perspective allows us to sidestep typical domain
problems (e.g. individualism vs. holism, action vs. structure, micro vs. macro
sociology), for a more pragmatic approach. The first section summarises (due to
shortage of space, not exhaustively) the present debate in sociology. The second
briefly introduces social simulation as a field of research. The third section
presents the analytical constructions that computational social scientists use in
dealing with the micro-macro link. The fourth section introduces some clear examples
of agent-based models of social outcomes, without entering into technicalities.
These examples allow us to pin down some particular mechanisms that can help to map
the micro-macro link. The last section summarises our findings and looks forward to
questions and challenges that should be explored in the near future.
Keywords:
micro-macro link, social simulation, agent-based
models, emergence, social mechanisms.