@Article{axtell96a,
  author =	 {Robert Axtell and Robert Axelrod and Joshua
                  M. Epstien and Michael D. Cohen},
  title =	 {Aligning Simulation Models: A Case Study and
                  Results},
  journal =	 {Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory},
  year =	 1996,
  volume =	 1,
  pages =	 {123--141},
  abstract =	 {This paper develops the concepts and methods of a
                  process we will call "alignment of computational
                  models" or "docking" for short. Alignment is needed
                  to determine whether two models can produce the same
                  results, which in turn is the basis for critical
                  experiments and for tests of whether one model can
                  subsume another. We illustrate our concepts and
                  methods using as a target a model of cultural
                  transmission built by Axelrod. For comparison we use
                  the Sugarscape model developed by Epstein and
                  Axtell. The two models differ in many ways and, to
                  date, have been employed with quite different
                  aims. The Axelrod model has been used principally
                  for intensive experimentation with parameter
                  variation, and includes only one mechanism. In
                  contrast, the Sugarscape model has been used
                  primarily to generate rich "artificial histories",
                  scenarios that display stylized facts of interest,
                  such as cultural differentiation driven by many
                  different mechansims including resource
                  availability, migration, trade, and combat. The
                  Sugarscape model was modified so as to reproduce the
                  results of the Axelrod cultural model. Among the
                  questions we address are: what does it mean for two
                  models to be equivalent, how can different standards
                  of equivalence be statistically evaluated, and how
                  do subtle differences in model design affect the
                  results? After attaining a "docking" of the two
                  models, the richer set of mechanisms of the
                  Sugarscape model is used to provide two experiments
                  in sensitivity analysis for the cultural rule of
                  Axelrod's model. Our generally positive experience
                  in this enterprise has suggested that it could be
                  beneficial if alignment and equivalence testing were
                  more widely practiced among computational
                  modellers.},
  keywords =     {modeling},
  url = 	 {http://jmvidal.cse.sc.edu/library/axtell06a.pdf},
  googleid = 	 {IsmJ59LBi54J:scholar.google.com/},
  cluster = 	 {11424437991327254818}
}