Hello World! Building computational models to represent social and organizational theory

Computational modeling holds significant promise for improving theory and research. However, realizing this potential necessitates important shifts in how one “thinks” about explanatory accounts for phenomena as well as comfort with translating informal ideas into formal theory using computational methods. Unfortunately, the knowledge and skillsets relevant to these goals are uncommon in the training received by social and organizational scientists. The purpose of this paper is to thus provide an accessible resource for learning to build, use, and interpret computational models to represent social and organizational theory. We first discuss some basic principles and recommendations for thinking about phenomenon in ways more conducive to building theory using computational modeling techniques. Next, we address some frequently asked questions related to building computational models and demonstrate several fundamental concepts of model building using the R programming language by illustrating how a narrative description for a phenomenon can be represented as executable model code. We conclude by summarizing the implications that learning to use computational modeling as a tool for building theory holds for social and organizational sciences.