THE COMPUTER AS A TOOL FOR THEORY DEVELOPMENT
John T. Gullahorn, Jeanne E. Gullahorn · 2012
Abstract : Research involving computer simulation not only plays the passive role of verifying and testing theory; it performs active functions for the development of theory. Formulating a theory as a computer model affords one a relatively tractable representation and possibly a more meaningful conceptualization, having increased precision as a result of the clarification of concepts necessitated by the programming process. Furthermore, a unique opportunity is provided by the modern digital computer's capacity to generate the programmed model's dynamic implications. In a computer run investigating a theory's processes it is not unlikely that unanticipated, anomalous, and strategic data may result and become the occasion for developing a new theory or for extending the existing model. (Author)