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I have a model in netlogo which simulates the behavior of crowd starting with a random population. In every simulation, the people differ so does their behaviour. So, how many simulations must i at least run to conclude the stability in the system?

JenB
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Gautam Verma
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  • What do you mean with random population? Does this population has variables that are generated randomly? Or is it just a random number of agents? Perhaps both? You need to explain yourself a bit more so that we're able to help you. – David Merinos Aug 26 '15 at 17:39
  • Yes. Every agent has its respective set of parameters which is generated randomly. I can fix the number of agents participating so that makes it constant for a simulation. – Gautam Verma Aug 26 '15 at 18:05
  • What do you mean by stability? This would normally be a single simulation but many timesteps - that is, the variable of interest is no longer changing (or is in a cycle etc). Or are you just asking your same question http://stackoverflow.com/questions/32222777/how-many-times-should-i-run-computer-simulations-to-conclude-one-experiment-in-n again? – JenB Aug 26 '15 at 18:59
  • If you randomly generate the parameters then it will never be consistent unless you use some constant `random-seed`s. And, what do you mean by 'how many simulations' ? Do you mean the actual number of tests or are you talking about `ticks` ? I highly suggest you to **edit** your question. – David Merinos Aug 27 '15 at 00:57

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Your question does not have a specific answer. Do you have different mechanisms which has impact on agent's behavior change? I think for each factor which has impact on the agent's change, run the simulation at least with 20-30 different random-seeds, or even if your simulation does not take that long to finish, try higher number of random-seeds.

On the other hand, if you are talking about number of ticks your agents should live, consider covering enough generations or enough years that make sense. People don't change overtime. If its a habit it might take months or years. If its a cultural aspect of people's life it might take a few generations. Define clearly what each parameter means each tick can mean a day, a week, or anything else.

Marzy
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