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Tools for the Analysis of Complex Social Systems: An Introduction

Course Dates and Times

Course Dates and Times

Friday 3 March: 13:00-15:00 and 15:30-17:00
Saturday 4 March: 09:30-12:00 and 13:00-14:30
7.5 hours over two days

Lasse Gerrits

lasse.gerrits@uni-bamberg.de

Erasmus University Rotterdam

This short course offers an introduction to the theories and methods of social complexity, in particular in relation to politics and policy-making. We will discuss the basics of complex social systems and will then focus on the implications these basics have for the research methods we use.


Instructor Bio

Lasse Gerrits is professor in political science at the University of Bamberg. His research focuses on the nexus of technology, policy and politics.

He is interested in methodological issues with regard to social complexity and the ways in which this complexity can be unboxed.

Lasse has published extensively on this topic in relationship to qualitative comparative analysis, critical realism, social complexity and qualitative methods.

He also has ample experience in applied research with, among others, railway companies all over Europe, and with many local and regional planning authorities.

Twitter  @ComplexGov

Ideas and concepts from the complexity sciences have permeated the social sciences for a while now, and for good reason: no thing as complex as a social system. To some, that complexity simply means that things are difficult. However, the complexity sciences also offer very precise concepts and methods with which we can name, analyse and understand that complexity. First and foremost, we will need to understand what complex causality means and how we can put our methods to good use for our analysis. This short course offers an introduction to the theories and methods of social complexity, in particular in relation to politics and policy-making. We will discuss the basics of complex social systems and will then discuss the implications these basics have for the research methods we use. Next, we will have a closer look at some methods that are very suitable for complexity-informed research: qualitative comparative analysis (to address the configurational nature of systems), event-sequence analysis (to address the evolutionary nature of systems), and system dynamics modelling (to address the structural nature of systems). The course can be taken as a stand-alone but also as a starting point for other courses offered during the Winter School, in particular the courses on comparative research design, qualitative comparative analysis and / or process tracing. Please note that this course DOES NOT substitute those courses, even though we will look at some examples of the methods taught in those courses.

Participants should have affinity with concepts, ideas and methods from the complexity sciences and should be mentally flexible in order to think outside of existing frames.

Day Topic Details
Friday afternoon Introduction to complex systems

This session will give a general introduction into the background and main concepts of complex systems.

Saturday morning Basics of complex systems. Complex causality.

We will now take a closer look at some of the complexity complex and will discuss the nature of complex causality.

Saturday afternoon How to do complexity-informed research.

We will look at examples of Qualitative Comparative Analysis, System Dynamics Modelling and Event-sequence Analysis.

Day Readings
Friday afternoon

TBA

Saturday morning

TBA

Saturday aftenoon

TBA

Software Requirements

I would need Vensim PLE running (latest version). Vensim PLE can be downloaded for free from Vensim.com. It is pivotal that the laptop is set to international / US English because German settings tend to mess up the settings in Vensim.

Hardware Requirements

None

Literature

TBA

Recommended Courses to Cover After this One

Comparative research design

Qualitative comparative analysis

Process tracing