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Parent Node(s):
SIMULATION
(1) the operation of a dynamic model in order to
obtain a sequence of?utcomes that could occur in a real world
system. Simulations of social processes can be accomplished
either by human player games or by computer programs or by a
combination of the two. Rather than simple computing the
solution to a set of equations, a simulation produces a synthetic
history oh the process. Beginning with a set of initial
conditions, the simulation plays through the various kinds of
events which might occur. (2) Simulation is the term applied to
the process of modeling the essential features of a situation and
then predicting what is likely to happen by operating with the
model cace by case--i.e., by estimating the results of proposed
actions from a series of imaginary experiments (imaginary because
they are performed on the representation of the situation, the
model, rather than on the situation itself). Most frequently,
the simulation is a [COMPUTER simulation] in which the
representation is carried out numerically on a digital computer.
It may also be done on an analogue computer or by means of a
physical representation, say by a wooden airfoil in a wind
tunnel. [MAN-MACHINE simulation] is a simulation that employs a
MAN-MACHINE model. Also see: role playing, gaming. (IIASA)
An unobtrusive scientific method of inquiry involving experiments with a model rather than with the portion of reality this model represents (see representation). Simulation is unobtrusive because it does not disturb the object of inquiry (except perhaps when an actor applies its results). Inasmuch as all information provided by a simulation is already contained in the model, simulation is useful primarily when the model is no longer tractable by algebraical techniques. This becomes particularly important with large numbers of equation built into the model, with large numbers of parts interacting within the model, with large numbers of paths that need to be traced simultaneously and with large numbers of iterations required to approximate the results. (Krippendorff)
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