The Handbook of Applied System Science is organized around both methodological approaches in systems science, and the substantive topic to which these approaches have been applied. The volume begins with an essay that introduces three system science methods: agent-based modeling, system dynamics, and network analysis. The remainder of the volume is organized around three broad topics: (1) health and human development, (2) environment and sustainability, and (3) communities and social change. Each part begins with a brief introductory essay, and includes nine chapters that demonstrate the application of system science methods to address research questions in these areas. This handbook will be useful for work in Public Health, Sociology, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Political Science, Environmental Studies, Urban Studies, and Psychology.

Chapter 14 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at