Social Choice in a Computer-Assisted Simulation

Abstract

Pursuing a line of inquiry suggested by Crookall, Martin, Saunders, and Coote, the author applied, within the framework of design science, an optimal-design approach to incorporate into a computer-assisted simulation two innovative social choice processes: the multiple period double auction and continuous voting. Expectations that the multiple-period-double-auction market would be bustling, that the continuous voting process would be adaptive, and that the simulation would be a suitable candidate for the assessment of learning were met in an administration of the simulation involving about 87 participants. The author suggests that the technology is ready for computer-assisted simulations to be much more widely used than they are today, but that progress may nevertheless be slow because a great deal of personal investment of time and energy is needed to do good work.