Computational Social Choice (COMSOC) addresses problems at the interface of social choice theory and computer science. Social choice theory is the formal study of collective decision-making processes, an important example of which are voting rules. We discuss concepts from social choice theory and investigate axiomatic and computational aspects.
In this module, we study collective decision making from a mathematical and algorithmic perspective. We formally model situations in which the preferences of agents (or voters) need to be aggregated into a collective choice.
Key questions include:
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Specific topics include: choice theory, Arrow's impossibility result, restricted domains of preferences, approval voting, scoring rules (plurality, Borda, etc.), Kemeny's rule, tournament solutions, strategic voting, multiwinner elections, apportionment methods, and proportional representation.
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
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Computational Social Choice is a research field at the intersection of computer science and economics (as part of the area often referred to as "Economics and Computation"). It is also related to mathematics, philosophy, and (theoretical) political science.
Understanding of fundamental tradeoffs when making collective decisions;
modelling preference aggregation methods and assessing their properties;
developing efficient algorithms for preference aggregation problems;
analysing axiomatic properties of voting rules.
Critical and strategic thinking;
problem solving;
fair and representative collective decision-making.
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 30 sessions of 1 hour (20%) |
| Seminars | 9 sessions of 1 hour (6%) |
| Private study | 81 hours (54%) |
| Assessment | 30 hours (20%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
Inclusive of private study, coursework, problem sheets, background reading and revision.
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coursework: Problem Set 1 | 10% | 5 hours | Yes (extension) |
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This assessment is eligible for self-certification (extension). |
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| Coursework: Problem Set 2 | 10% | 5 hours | Yes (extension) |
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This assessment is eligible for self-certification (extension). |
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| Exam | 80% | 20 hours | No |
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Students are asked to solve exercises that are similar in style to the exercises on the problem sheets.
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| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam | 100% | No |
Feedback on problem sets in seminars.
This module is Optional for:
This module is Option list A for: