Definition
Granularity concerns the ability to represent and operate on different levels of detail in data, information, and knowledge that are located at their appropriate level. The entities are described relative to that level, which may be more coarse-grained or concern fine-grained details. Devising these ordered levels of granularity in a granular perspective are either determined by the laws of nature or are a resultant of human cognition to divide the data, information, or knowledge.
Characteristics
Introduction
Multiscale analysis of biological systems, such as in metagenomics, requires one to traverse from the molecular level of detail, to cells, bacterial communities, up to micro- and macro-environments and habitats. Longer established disciplines, such as plant and animal taxonomy, categorize specimens in the tree that contains more (Genus-level) or less (e.g., Family-level) details. That biology concerns different levels of detail and hierarchical systems has been noted...
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Keet, C.M. (2013). Granularity. In: Dubitzky, W., Wolkenhauer, O., Cho, KH., Yokota, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Systems Biology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9863-7_65
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9863-7_65
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