Improving Social-Behavioral Modeling

This chapter summarizes our view of priority challenges for social-behavioral modeling. Some challenges are inherent: individuals behave in complicated ways and social systems are complex adaptive systems (CAS). Such systems pose wicked problems for policy-makers. Other challenges relate to specific scientific problems. We discuss a selection of these: rebalancing the portfolio of models and methods, confronting uncertainty, synthesis, the dynamic of connecting theory and data, and redefining model validity. We summarize briefly elements of a way ahead.