ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces students to the logic and practice of agent-based modeling—a form of computational modeling in which modelers build artificial worlds and examine how simple interactions among a heterogeneous population of agents lead to emergent outcomes. Agent-based modeling is often integrated in mixed methods research to either explore dynamic feedbacks and/or validate observations in the field. In this chapter, students develop a simple agent-based model of infectious diseases, run simulations, interpret the outcomes, discuss the implications for real-world problems, and learn how agent-based models can be used in mixed methods research.
