Synopses & Reviews
Mathematical models in the social sciences have become increasingly sophisticated and widespread in the last decade. This period has also seen many critiques, most lamenting the sacrifices incurred in pursuit of mathematical perfection. If, as critics argue, our ability to understand the world has not improved during the mathematization of the social sciences, we might want to adopt a different paradigm. This book examines the three main fields of mathematical modeling--game theory, statistics, and computational methods--and proposes a new framework for modeling.
Synopsis
This book provides an overview and a critique of mathematical modeling in the social sciences. It covers the three major traditions: game theory, statistics, and computational modeling. Because there are genuine problems with the state of current research, a new framework for conducting research that integrates the three traditions is proposed. Two features of the analysis deserve particular mention. First, the book concentrates on problems in the social sciences that are difficult to solve with current mathematical methods. Second, a special focus of the book is computational modeling.
Synopsis
Offers an overview of mathematical modeling concentrating on game theory, statistics and computational modeling.
Synopsis
'It provides an overview and a critique of mathematical modeling in the social sciences. It covers the three major traditions: game theory, statistics, and computational modeling. Because there are genuine problems with the state of current research, a new framework for conducting research that integrates the three traditions is proposed.\n
'
Table of Contents
1. Not all fun and games: challenges in mathematical modeling; 2. Looking for car keys without any street lights; 3. From curses to complexity: the justification for computational modeling; 4. Why everything should look like a nail: deriving parsimonious encodings for complex games; 5. KKV redux: deriving and testing logical implications.