The literature on the role of theoretical models as mediators between theories and phenomena has
recently undergone an exponential growth. Too often, however, it simply takes the 'target system' of the theoretical model as given,
ignoring the experimental activity involved in the modeling process.
In practice, experimentation provides the conditions of possibility for empirical modeling. First,
the phenomenon that is meant to be theoretically represented is typically not clearly identified or well defined at the outset. Modeling is also elucidating what is to be modeled and this is done through experimentation. The selection of certain measurable parameters
as significant, of certain measurement results as what has to be accounted for, defines what is then, retrospectively, classified as the
target phenomenon.
Second, experiments yield data that are collected, sifted, and combined to construct data models, and
it is with these data models that theoretical models are required to be in accord. But what counts as a 'good' data model of the phenomenon?
The focus for this workshop is this stage in scientific inquiry where the activities of model construction and experimenting go hand in hand.
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The videos of the sessions use QuickTime to play. QuickTime Player comes with a Mac; there is a
free download site for PC.
You can set this as default plug-in player, or else use it separately as follows:
1. Right click on one of the links and select "copy link location"
2. Open QuickTime Player > File > Open Url
3. In the Open URL dialogue box, paste the link location, and click OK.
video and web credit:
Nick Alvarez and Peter Tiziani
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