Date of Submission

Fall 2023

Academic Program

Computer Science

Project Advisor 1

Kerri-Ann Norton

Abstract/Artist's Statement

This paper examines the effect of increasing the population density (number of people), rumor threshold, liking factor, and influence on the rate of the rumor spread in an agent-based model. A rumor is a piece of information disseminated without official verification and it is very difficult to stop it from propagation once it begins. Dissemination takes place when individuals of powerful influence are within a population and have close face-to-face interactions with other individuals. The nature of the rumor is such that it will survive even if the adoption percentage is minimal. Using two agent-based models and statistical tools such as ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD, and Independent Samples T-Test, this study demonstrates the significance of population density, rumor threshold, and influence on the rate of the rumor spread. It argues that the most powerful were the effects of influence and rumor threshold and that the liking factors effects were negligible. Although the findings of this study are significant, the model lacks the necessary complexity to capture real-world rumors and agent behaviors. Further research can be undertaken considering these deficiencies.

Keywords: rumor, threshold, liking factor, spread, effect.

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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