Social simulation is the study of natural and artificial society-like structures through the use of computational tools (along with analytic techniques). The behavior of individual agents and interactions among the agents are defined on the basis of experiment, observation and, increasingly, engagement with decision-makers and domain experts.
Simulations explore emergent outcomes that result from the interactions among the individuals. Examples include: the formation of opinions in human societies, feeding patterns in ant colonies, the change in land-use, the evolution of animal ecologies, the emergence of ethical behavior, and the emergence and adaptation of social institutions. The present handbook comprehensively covers methodology, mechanisms and simulation tools. It provides a broad yet concise survey of those fields where this approach has been applied with success and documented.
An introduction and extensive glossary will assist non-specialists and graduate students in entering this necessarily interdisciplinary field, while the surveys themselves will be useful to specialists seeking to expand their range of techniques and designs.