The following links provide general background information on the field of Cybernetics and Systems Theory, an interdisciplinary academic domain.

“People, when initially introduced to structures, also referred
to as Archetypes, often find them a bit overwhelming. They really
aren't at all difficult once you get used to them. The following
is an introduction to structures and how to read the stories associated
with the diagrams.”

http://www.systems-thinking.org/intst/int.htm

Be sure to work upstream in the URL to see the rest of Bellinger's work.

System Dynamics Society
System dynamics is a methodology for studying and managing
complex feedback systems, such as one finds in business and other social
systems. In fact it has been used to address practically every sort of
feedback system. While the word system has been applied to all sorts of
situations, feedback is the differentiating descriptor here. Feedback
refers to the situation of X affecting Y and Y in turn affecting X perhaps
through a chain of causes and effects. One cannot study the link between
X and Y and, independently, the link between Y and X and predict how the
system will behave. Only the study of the whole system as a feedback system
will lead to correct results.

SimVenture was developed by Vince Guiliani and his colleagues in the late '90.  This PowerPoint is c. 2001.

Xcelsius
does magical things for your Excel spreadsheets.  It turns the
numeric data into controlable Flash charts, which can be standalone
“movies,” imported into PowerPoint or sent to colleagues as
click-and-manipulate e-mail.  Check out the Quicktime demos at http://www.infommersion.com/demos.html

This Gallery of Data Visualization displays some examples of the
Best and Worst of Statistical
Graphics, with the view that the contrast may be useful,
inform current practice, and provide some pointers to both historical and current work.
We go from what is arguably
the best statistical graphic ever drawn,
to the current record-holder for the worst.
See http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/

There are many things that faster computers have made possible in recent years.
For [journalists], scientists, engineers, statisticians, managers, investors, and others,
computers have made it possible to create models that simulate reality and aid in
making predictions. One of the methods for simulating real systems is the ability to take
into account randomness by investigating hundreds of thousands of different scenarios.
The results are then compiled and used to make decisions. This is what Monte Carlo
simulation is about.

      Monte Carlo simulation is often used in business for risk and decision analysis, to help make decisions
given uncertainties in market trends, fluctuations, and other uncertain factors…..

     
This article will guide you through the process of performing a Monte Carlo simulation using
Microsoft Excel. Although Excel will not always be the best place to run a scientific
simulation, the basics are easily explained with just a few simple examples.”

See http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelArticles/mc/index.html

For yet-to-be-determined reasons, the blog isn't easily viewed today if you're using IE.  However, folks using Mozilla or Firefox seem
to have no problem.  Yet another reason to dump IE.  We're
trying to solve this head scratcher (any suggestions most welcome), but
until we do, fire up any browser but IE.

Today's prognostication: Fifty
to 100 years from now, historians and demographers will look at the era
from 1990 to 2005 as one characterized by intense global population
mobility. 

Any major city in Southeast Asia these days is
loaded with people from throughout that broad region.  Any major
citiy in Europe is loaded with people from other nations, especially
the former USSR, the Mideast and Africa.  And the blending of
geography, demography and economics makes for fascinating stories IF we
have the tools to tease out the interesting and important facts and
trends.

The Jan-March 2005 issue of ESRI's ArcUser
magazine is especially rich for analytic journalists and the JAGIS
[Journalism and GIS] crowd.  The latter will be especially
interested in:

“GIS Tracks Earnings Sent Home by Mexican Migrants.” 
The piece, by two geographers from SUNY-Cortland, illustrates the money
flow to individual Mexican states.  Unfortunately we don't have
data and maps showing the U.S. states-of-origin of those dollars, but the
methodology will be of interest to geographers and journalists
everywhere.

GIS Management is
essentially the same as managing a CAR or Analytic Journalism operation
in a news organization.  The same issue of ArcUser leads with
three articles on how to establish successful GIS programs; just
replace “GIS” with “AJ” and the concepts translate easily. 
So check out “Enterpriseing GIS Management” ; “Supporting Successful Enterprise GIS Solutions” ; “Building an Enterprise GIS in a Limited Fiscal Environment“; “Evaluating Enterprise GIS Requirements” and “Powering Up Your Enterprise GIS.”

Finally, the IAJ gang has been promoting performance measurement (and
forensic accounting) as important tools for journalists for the past
couple years.  Another story in ArcUser,  “Performance Measurement in Local Government,” illustrates how GIS is a valuable analytic and measurement tool, one which journalists could easily adopt.