One topic that has to be addressed in the PhD is the validity not only of the Wargames I create but also of Wargaming itself. Of course a lot will depend on the use to which a wargame is put. I like the idea that robustness is perhaps a better yardstick than validity, and also that wargames are not predictive but help to show us the possible outcome space for any problem.

One approach to the issue is to look at how validity is addressed in related disciplines such as social science, and see if we can use their models of validity within a wargaming context. I’ve already written a Wargaming and Validity paper for WD’s Nugget on this. I’ll explore this and other approaches, such as that of outcome space mapping, in the thesis and further papers.