Tools for the Analysis of Complex Social Systems: An Introduction

Ideas and concepts from the complexity sciences have permeated the social sciences for a while now, and for good reason: there's 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 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 the implications these basics have for the research methods we use.

Next, we will have a closer look at some methods 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)
• 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 Winter School courses, in particular those on comparative research design, qualitative comparative analysis and / or process tracing.

This introductory course is not a substitute for those methods courses, even though we will look at some examples of the methods taught in those courses.

You should have affinity with concepts, ideas and methods from the complexity sciences and you should be flexible enough to think outside existing frames.