Computer simulation in sociology: what contribution?

Computer simulation is spreading in the field of scientific research. Also in sociology we find important applications. Mathematical formulation has had little success in expressing laws that regulate social phenomena. Computer simulation can therefore be used as a new tool for analysis and explanations which are impossible to formulate using mathematical functions only. Some different techniques of simulation have developed: system dynamics, multiagent systems, cellular automata and genetic algorithms. This article analyzes how each type of techniques has been applied in sociology and how it is strictly linked to theoretical propositions that characterize each sociological approach. The introduction of computer simulation poses a question: which contribution it does bring in the process of sociological research? This framework aims to answer it by examining the functions that simulation can carry out in the studies of sociologists. It found that computer simulation techniques provide new opportunities to develop social research. The most important aspect is their capacity to include the dynamics of social phenomena. Moreover, the relationship with cognitivism allows us to define models of behavior that could be very useful, for example, for the description of the concept of role, so important in sociology. On the contrary, a weakness of computer simulation remains: its connection with the empirical word. In the social sciences we do not have standardized and consolidated tools of measurement at our disposal, so now we cannot solve the problem of comparing “artificial data” with real data.