Alan Roach

Alan is involved in using social simulations to understand society as non-linear, complex systems. He is interested in the dynamics of social systems and understanding the forces which drive social change, particularly the development of culture and the social use of cultural artefacts and information. His PhD research studies the history of Disc Jockey culture, from a new technology to a global force. This uses social simulation to investigate the relationship between individual's music tastes, perceptions and social position and the global concepts of music genres and subcultures. He works on the Agent Based Simulations of Market and Consumer Behaviour project in conjunction with Unilever and is a research fellow within the Sociology Department at the University of Surrey