The use of mathematical modelling in social sciences
Henri Berestycki (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris and Director of the Centre d'analyse et de Mathématique Sociales of the French CNRS)
The use of mathematical modelling in social sciences Starting with examples from epidemiology and ecology, I will discuss some of the new aspects and roles of modelling, from quantitative to qualitative insight. Political decisions regarding these questions can gain much from and should rely more on mathematical models in situations where simple intuition is not always the best guide. It will be argued that, in some sense, modelling in social sciences represents the next frontier. One can expect modelling to allow one to have a more sophisticated vision of data, to have a clearer view of the role of certain factors, to shed light on simplified mechanisms and, as a result, to be helpful for decision making. The study of criminality will provide a framework to describe some approaches of modelling for social phenomena.