REPLY The Minimum Acceptable Model Standard (SD6759)

[SDMAIL Jack Homer]

Posted by  "Jack Homer" <jhomer at comcast.net>

Tom Forest's idea for minimum requirements for conference papers is interesting 
and could offer some needed guidance for reviewers.  But, I think we'd have to 
exempt purely methodological (non-applied) papers from those requirements.  For 
the applied papers, there are two types: policy analysis, and theory development.  
Policy analysis certainly should include a discussion of policy levers, but 
theory development need not.  Aside from the inclusion of policy levers in policy 
analysis, I think the most we could require for the applied papers is, as Tom 
suggests (with slight word-smithing on my part), reference mode (behavior-over-
time graph) + causal diagram (CLD or stock-flow or hybrid).  I would not include 
a requirement for presenting simulation model output, because that would exclude 
qualitative analyses, and I don't think we're prepared to do that. Whatever rules 
we adopt should apply equally to posters, parallel, and plenary papers; there 
should be no distinction, if we want something practical.

- Jack Homer 
Posted by  "Jack Homer" <jhomer at comcast.net>
posting date  Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:24:16 -0500