Dialectic Models for Documenting and Conducting Simulation Studies: Exploring Feasibility

TY - CHAP

T1 - Dialectic Models for Documenting and Conducting Simulation Studies

T2 - Exploring Feasibility

AU - Zschaler, Steffen

AU - Wilsdorf, Pia

AU - Godfrey, Thomas

AU - Uhrmacher, Adelinde

PY - 2025/6/3

Y1 - 2025/6/3

N2 - Validation and documentation of rationale are central to simulation studies. Most current approaches focus only on individual simulation artifacts—most typically simulation models—and their validity rather than their contribution to the overall simulation study. Approaches that aim to validate simulation studies as a whole either impose structured processes with the implicit assumption that this will ensure validity, or they rely on capturing provenance and rationale, most commonly in natural language, following accepted documentation guidelines. Inspired by dialectic approaches for developing mathematical proofs, we explore the feasibility of capturing validity and rationale information as a study unfolds through agent dialogs that also generate the overall simulation-study argument. We introduce a formal framework, an initial catalog of possible interactions, and a proof-of-concept tool to capture such information about a simulation study. We illustrate the ideas in the context of a cell biological simulation study.

AB - Validation and documentation of rationale are central to simulation studies. Most current approaches focus only on individual simulation artifacts—most typically simulation models—and their validity rather than their contribution to the overall simulation study. Approaches that aim to validate simulation studies as a whole either impose structured processes with the implicit assumption that this will ensure validity, or they rely on capturing provenance and rationale, most commonly in natural language, following accepted documentation guidelines. Inspired by dialectic approaches for developing mathematical proofs, we explore the feasibility of capturing validity and rationale information as a study unfolds through agent dialogs that also generate the overall simulation-study argument. We introduce a formal framework, an initial catalog of possible interactions, and a proof-of-concept tool to capture such information about a simulation study. We illustrate the ideas in the context of a cell biological simulation study.

M3 - Conference paper

BT - Winter Simulation Conference 2025

ER -