System dynamics models are usually formulated from verbal descriptions of problems. To define such models, one maps the verbal description into a set of equations. This mapping process remains much of an art despite the use of causal diagrams, to extract from the verbal descriptions the variables (nouns or noun combinations) and the direction, degree of independence and polarity of the relationships to be included in the simulation model. This paper presents an attempt to formalize the translation of verbal descriptions into causal diagrams. The proposed methodology is based on the decomposition of the text into a sequence of inferences. All the nouns and adjective-noun combinations in each inference are then identified and inserted into an adjacency matrix to facilitate the selection of the relevant variables and polarized relationships by the modeler. Implementation of this method on a computer is discussed. A preliminary solution is presented. The description a simple environmental impact problem is mapped into a causal diagram using the proposed approach for illustrative purposes.

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Date created

• 1991

Type

• Document

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• Processing documentation available at: https://wiki.albany.edu/display/SCA/Processing+Ingested+Digital+Files

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• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

  
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Collection

System Dynamic Society Records

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Collecting area

• This collection is part of the University Archives