Part 5: Modelling Flashcards
Representation:
Something is a representation of something else if it stands in for that thing, meaning we use or investigate that thing instead of what we are really interested in.
Target:
A target is what a model aims to represent.
Idealization:
The fact that a model is an idealization of its target means that it does not have all the properties that the target has, and vice versa”
Purpose dependence:
A model can only be justified on the basis of how useful it is for fulfilling a certain purpose
Analogy:
Inference by analogy is to state that a conclusion in one case applies to another case due to there being relevant similarities between the cases.
Positive analogy:
Similarity between model and target.
Negative analogy:
Dissimilarity between model and target.
Neutral analogy:
Property of model, whose occurrence in target is not known.
Epistemic virtues of models:
Types of properties of models that determine the quality of a model, given a specific purpose.
Simplicity:
One model is simpler than another model if it contains less parameters than another model.
Robustness:
A model is robust with respect to an assumption if changing this assumption does not change the model result.
Similarity:
The degree to which the model has several properties which the target also has (there are multiple positive analogies) that are relevant for the modelling purpose.
Parameter precision:
One model has higher parameter precision than another model, if the specifications of the parameters of the first model implies the parameter specifications of the second.
Simplicity:
One model is simpler than another model if it contains less parameters than another model.
Tractability:
A model is computationally tractable only if its result can be computed in polynomial time. A model is analytically tractable only if the model result can be obtained through valid deduction, from the model assumptions alone. A model is theoretically tractable only if the model is either computationally or analytically tractable, and some of the necessary computational or deductive steps are justified with reference to a background theory.
