Day 3 – July 6th

Obstacles of Theory Development

The participants meet in interdisciplinary groups to discuss possible reasons that hinder theory construction with ABM. Also, the groups provide a description of possible ways out of this situation.

The group work slot consists of:

1 | Discussion Phase: Please discuss the following questions and related aspects.

2 | Documentation Phase: Please document answers to each of the questions discussed (listed questions and/or additional points that came up) and the outputs in texts. Please create slides for graphical representations. 

(During discussion, please also consider the respective answers to the survey questions!)  [Questionnaire]

We kindly ask you to discuss and find answers to the following questions:

1. What are possible reasons that hinder or stimulate theory development?
2. Under which conditions are ABM suitable for theory development?
3. What are possible ways out of the situation?
4. Please give an overview of the next important steps and methods to overcome the obstacles of theory development and to support successful theory development through ABM  (= preview on the next symposium).

After the group discussions, we come back together to report the results and exchange thoughts and ideas across the groups. Each group has 15 min for their reports.