Using Agent-Based Models (ABMs) in Computational Social Science

Agent-based models (ABMs) are extremely useful tools for social researchers who are interested in the generation of population-level behaviours that result from the action of individual population members. They can be used to explore, explain, experiment and occasionally, even to predict.

This 2.5 hour workshop, by Jason Thompson, will take participants through some examples of both classic and contemporary agent-based models used in the social sciences and more recently in population health. The second half of the workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to consider how their own research problems might be ‘agentised’. Participants should leave the workshop with an understanding of how agent-based modelling could assist their own research agenda.

The workshop will introduce participants to the free NetLogo modeling platform. There will be some hands-on coding but it assumes no prior experience in any coding language.

For queries contact sicss.admin@sydney.edu.au

Jason Thompson

A/Prof Thompson works at the University of Melbourne’s Transport, Health and Urban Design (THUD) Research Laboratory within the Melbourne School of Design. Here, he focuses on the translation of research into practice across the areas of urban design, transportation safety, public health, post-injury rehabilitation, public policy, and health system design. His work has pioneered the use of agent-based models and computational social science in areas of traditional health and insurance system design, urban design, infectious disease, and transportation safety. A/Prof Thompson holds a PhD in Medicine, Masters in Clinical Psychology, and a Bachelor of Science with Honours and is a current Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (DECRA) Fellow.