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Although in many social sciences there is a radical division between studies based on quantitative (e.g. statistical) and qualitative (e.g. ethnographic) methodologies and their associated epistemological commitments, agent-based simulation fits into neither camp, and should be capable of modelling both quantitative and qualitative data. Nevertheless, most agent-based models (ABMs) are founded on quantitative data. This paper explores some of the methodological and practical problems involved in basing an ABM on qualitative participant observation and proposes some advice for modelers.

This paper introduces a relational topological map model, dedicated to multidimensional categorial data (or qualitative data) arising in the form of a binary matrix or a sum of binary matrices. This approach is based on the principle of Kohonen's model (conservation of topological order) and uses the Relational Analysis formalism by maximizing a modified Condorcet criterion. This proposed method is developed from the classical Relational Analysis approach by adding a neighborhood constraint to the Condorcet criterion. We propose a hybrid algorithm, which deals linearly with large data sets, provides a natural clusters identification and allows a visualization of the clustering result on a two-dimensional grid while preserving the a priori topological order of this data. The proposed approach called Relational Topological Map (RTM) was validated on several databases and the experimental results showed very promising performances.

As Research Support is becoming an increasingly topical issue within academic libraries in the UK, this paper examines two different surveys that Loughborough University Library undertook to assess the effectiveness of its research support. The first was a benchmarking survey amongst 1994 Group universities, which produced quantitative data to enable the Library to identify its relative strengths and weaknesses and plan for the future. The second was a more inward looking survey which examined the information needs of a sample of research centres. This produced a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both methods and how the results were carried forward into operational plans.