Introduction to System Dynamics and Group Model Building

Federal funding agencies and initiatives are increasingly drawing on tools from systems thinking and simulation as a way of advancing methods to address social problems and develop public policy. Examples include recent announcements from National Institutes of Health (NIH) on reducing disparities, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on addressing chronic health issues such as diabetes, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) promoting specific systems methods such as system dynamics and agent based modeling. However, there are a variety of approaches to modeling complex systems and variations within each approach. This makes it difficult to discern their commonalities and differences, and hence challenging to select the most appropriate method for the problem being studied. The goal of this workshop is to introduce participants to the specific method and language of system dynamics (Forrester, 1961, 1971).

System dynamics is a way to understand systems and how they change which draws on feedback mechanisms as its primary focus of analysis. With origins in classical nonlinear control system theory from electrical engineering, system dynamics has been applied over the last fifty years to a wide range of problems in areas such as health, human services, business, economics, education, energy, natural resources, and crime. The emphasis in system dynamics is on understanding dynamic problems in terms of feedback mechanisms using computer simulation, and then solving problems by designing better policies or interventions through model simulation and analysis. System dynamics models can be built using a variety of data sources, and are often developed in teams with other researchers or stakeholders using group model building techniques (Andersen & Richardson, 1997; Vennix, 1996). Group model building also provides a way to involve community participants or persons with little or no exposure to system dynamics.

Drawing on NSF funded research and grant applications using system dynamics, experience teaching system dynamics to social work students, and group model building experience in mental health transformation, the presenter will introduce participants to basic concepts in system dynamics and group model building. Participants will have opportunities to apply these concepts to a problem of their interest. The emphasis will be on helping participants decide if system dynamics is the right method for a given problem and how system dynamics might be applied to a problem of interest.

References

Andersen, D. F., & Richardson, G. P. (1997). Scripts for group model building. System Dynamics Review, 13(2), 107-129.

Forrester, J. W. (1961). Industrial dynamics. Waltham: Pegasus Communications, Inc.

Forrester, J. W. (1971). Principles of systems. Waltham: Pegasus Communications, Inc.

Vennix, J. (1996). Group model building. New York: John Wiley & Sons.