ABSTRACT
Simulations in social science The aim of this chapter is to highlight the potential of simulations in social science by using the method of simulations on the case study of the market for photovoltaic cells (PV). The simulations used are kept on a very basic level. This means, the analysis presented here is not a “best-practice example.” Instead of giving answers to defined research questions the chapter rather tries to use simulations to find interesting questions. Therefore, the reader will not learn a lot about what is going on in the political argument of China and Germany about PV. The main argument is that simulations rely on a different way of thinking about research and the aim of the chapter is to introduce this perspective. To provide some additional hints going beyond the case study, two symbols are used:
Common mistakes in simulation designs and the thinking about simulations are marked with a trap.
