Basic Principles of Model Building

Abstract

Scientific knowledge of reality comes in form of models. As distinguished from everyday knowledge, scientific knowledge is characterized by the clear distinction between theoretical and empirical aspects. Because the distinction between the two cannot be part of the theoretical or the empirical, the frame of reference has to be introduced as a third element of the model for scientific knowledge. The frame of reference, formulated (more or less) in everyday language, contains a mixture of theoretical (“T”) and empirical (“E”) contents, as shown in Eq.1.1 which is taken from Wold (1969b): Scientific Knowlesge=

$$\boxed{\boxed{T \Leftrightarrow E}}$$

(1.1)

where the rectangle marks the frame of reference.