Centre for Research in Social Simulation
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Sociology Department at the University of Surrey

The Centre for Research in Social Simulation (CRESS), based in the Department of Sociology in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Surrey is a multidisciplinary centre bringing together the social sciences, software engineering and agent-based computing to promote and support the use of social simulation in research in the human sciences.

If you would like more information on CRESS research and activities, or learn more about collaboration with CRESS, please e-mail us.
TERMS IN SOCIAL SIMULATION

These are some key terms and concepts that are used in social simulation. Each term is linked to a list of online resources to give you more information. If you would like to have your organization or work added to this list, please contact us with details of your work and your URL. Cress is not responsible for the content on third-party sites.

Artificial Life
Using techniques developed to model nonhuman life-forms.

Cellular Automata
Societies modelled on a grid with local interactions between cells.

Distributed Artificial Intelligence
Interactive agents with 'intelligence'.

Genetic Algorithms
Learning through evolution and selection.

Microsimulation
Ageing samples year by year to model taxes, benefits and changing individual attributes.

Neural Networks
Learning using artificial neural networks.

System Dynamics
Macro-level differential and difference equation models.
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