G. David Garson

Computerized Simulation in the Social Sciences

After years at the periphery of the social sciences, simulation is now emerging as an important and widely used tool for understanding social phenomena. Through simulation, researchers can identify causal effects, specify critical parameter estimates, and clarify the state of the art with respect to what is understood about how processes evolve over time. Moreover, simulation methods are often the most time-effective and cost-effective means of doing so and sometimes are the only means. This essay outlines current developments in the four main branches of social science simulation: systems dynamics models, network models (including neural network models), spatial models, and agent-based models. The limitations of simulation modeling are also discussed, along with methods for evaluating the validity of social science computer simulations.

Analytic mapping and geographic databases

Introducing a new hobby for other people may inspire them to join with you. Reading, as one of mutual hobby, is considered as the very easy hobby to do. But, many people are not interested in this hobby. Why? Boring is the reason of why. However, this feel actually can deal with the book and time of you reading. Yeah, one that we will refer to break the boredom in reading is choosing analytic mapping and geographic databases as the reading material.

A Comparison of Neural Network and Expert Systems Algorithms with Common Multivariate Procedures for Analysis of Social Science Data

New computer techniques for data analysis, notably the algorithms associated with neural networks and with expert systems, have not caught on to a significant extent in social science. To appraise these developments, an empirical assessment is conducted in which expert systems and neural network approaches are compared with multiple linear regression, logistic regression, effects analysis, path analysis, and discriminant analysis. A simple method of partitioning neural network output layer connections in terms of input nodes (corresponding to independent variables) is also presented, allowing neural net analysis for modeling as well as classification purposes. It is concluded that back-propagation (neural networks) is more effective than other procedures, sometimes strikingly so, in correctly classifying the dependent, even when the amount of noise in the model is high. Back-propagation was of less help, however, in causal inference. None of the techniques performed well by this important criterion. The ID3 algorithm is found to provide a useful mode of knowledge representation quite different from other procedures. While this may be preferred by some analysts for certain types of research, ID3 is not consistently superior to procedures in the multiple linear general model (MLGH) family in terms of effectiveness, either for classification or for causal inference. Keywords: statistical inference, computers, modeling, simulation, regression, discriminant analysis, effects analysis, path analysis, expert systems, ID3, neural networks, back-propagation.

Computer Technology and Social Issues

From the Publisher: Interconnected political, economic. Social and human factors are paramount in determining the success of information technology. As global economic competition has become ever more important, the social issues of computing combine to make public policymaking more urgent in computer-related domains. Though often perceived in purely technological terms, when it comes to computing, political issues are pervasive. The book starts by examining charges that computing threatens democratic values. Is computing creating a technological elite? Does it foster dehumanization and a de-skilled workforce? And what of the opposite claim that computing will foster a new era of electronic democracy--a network nation in which participatory team approaches and electronic civic democracy displace hierarchical models of the past? Empirical data and case studies on both sides of these and other related questions are examined from a social science viewpoint. Subsequent chapters deal with computing as a threat to privacy, intellectual property rights in a computer era, computer crime by individuals and organizations, gender and race inequity, technostress and health issues, liability for the effects of computing and numerous related topics. Discussion of the social issues and problems of computing leads into chapters which examine employee resistance to computing, sociotechnical change, information cultures and success factors in computing implementation. Final chapters of the book deal with arguments that information technology investment may not lead to productivity gains. The call for establishment of a national information technology policy to meet the demands of global competition is then taken up. Public goods theory is discussed as a background to reviewing governmental efforts to regulate or promote information technology up through the current proposals of the Clinton Administration. A concluding section on computing and public policy accountability argues for a focus that takes account of the social factors behind successful technological implementation and is not blind hardware-oriented subsidy of all forms of information technology investment. G. David Garson is a professor of political science and public administration at North Carolina State University. He is editor of the Social Science Computer Review, published by Duke University Press, and is author or editor of a dozen books and monographs on research methods, public administration and American politics. Dr. Garson is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Universities. In addition to his full professorship, he serves as associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, supervising three computer laboratories in social sciences and the humanities at the North Carolina State University.

Information technology and computer applications in public administration: issues and trends

The Challenge of Teaching Information Technology in Public Administration Graduate Programmes Political Dimensions of Information Systems in Public Administration Information Technology and Organizational Change in the Public Sector The Evolution of Information Technology Management at the Federal Level - Implications for Public Administration Planning for Public Sector Information Management in State Government Managing Information Privacy and Information Access in the Public Sector Electronic Governance on the Internet Leading Edge Information Technologies and Their Adoption - Lessons from US Cities Management Information Systems in the Public Sector Software Toolkit Approach for Public Administrators Computers, Survey Research and Focus Groups in Public Administration Research and Practice Managing Geographic Information Systems in the Public Sector Legal Aspects of Electronic Mail in Public Organizations World Wide Web Site Design and Use in Public Management Online Research for Public Managers.

Crime mapping and its extension to social science analysis

The purpose of this article is to present the definitions of 21 geographic information system (GIS) functions used in crime mapping and to propose how these functions may be applied more generally to social science research. Most social data are spatial, but this fact has been largely ignored in sociological and social science research. More extensive use of both spatial statistics and spatial analysis in sociology seems likely, and hopefully this article will stimulate social scientist readers to explore using GIS in their research.

The Role of Inductive Expert Systems Generators in the Social Science Research Process

Most of what may be broadly construed as political science has always proceeded through induction. There are, of course, some aspects of both classical political theory and even modem work that are based on deductive logic, as in the use of economic marketplace principles to explain voting behavior (Downs, 1957), or in the application of game theory to explanation of the Watergate scandal of the Nixon era (Muzzio, 1982; see also Zagare, 1984). Nonetheless, induction, not deduction, has been the rule. Early work on the &dquo;science&dquo; of politics was almost entirely nonquantitative, using inference from examples to construct rich theories of political reality, as in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1839/1954). The merit of this form of induction depended heavily on the insight, intuition, and personal brilliance of the particular author. With the advent of better forms of data collection and the rise of the discipline of statistics, social scientists shifted from the earlier intuitive approach toward a quantitative form of induction based on empirical measurement and correlation. With the rise of the statistical approach to social science data, a premium was placed on probabilistic explanations. Even research

Technological teleology and the theory of technology enactment: the case of the international trade data system

Jane Fountains book, Building the Virtual State: Information Technology and Institutional Change, uses the International Trade Data System (ITDS) as its leading case in support of technology enactment theory and in refutation of technological determinist theory. An examination of the ITDS case in the years since the termination of Fountains coverage in 1999 shows the case to be of a different nature than presented in the book. The weaknesses of technology enactment as social science theory are compensated by its descriptive/prescriptive uses for practitioners and researchers interested in public sector information technology implementation.

Social Science Computer Simulation: Its History, Design, and Future:

Though far from comprehensive, what may be the most extensive inventory of social science computer simulations of the last decade is presented in historical perspective. Simulations are discussed in terms of four underlying structural models: equation systems, probability, resource allocation, and social process designs. Advantages and limitations of each design are discussed. Five developments affecting the future of social science computer simulation are also noted, along with simulation exam ples of each: hypertext, interactive fiction, natural language, expert systems, and pattern recognition. Some 168 simulations or simulation authoring tools are listed in a resource appendix. Keywords: computer simulation, social science, gaming, modeling, educational technology, hypertext, interactive fiction, natural language, expert systems, pattern recognition.

Securing the virtual state recent developments in privacy and security

Recent developments in U.S. privacy and security policy are traced, including coverage of the renewal of the PATRIOT Act, the domestic spying affair of 2005 to 2006, passage of the Real ID Act, and other developments associated with the Department of Homeland Security. Threats to democratic values are assessed.