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Sensitivity Auditing
Sensitivity auditing is an extension of sensitivity analysis for use in policy-relevant modelling studies. Its use is recommended - e.g. in the European Commission Impact assessment guidelines and by the European Science Academies- when a sensitivity analysis (SA) of a model-based study is meant to demonstrate the robustness of the evidence provided by the model, but in a context where the inference feeds into a policy or decision-making process.Saltelli, A., van der Sluijs, J., Guimarães Pereira, Â., 2013, Funtowiz, S.O., What do I make of your Latinorum? Sensitivity auditing of mathematical modelling, International Journal Foresight and Innovation Policy, 9 (2/3/4), 213–234. Approach In settings where scientific work feeds into policy, the framing of the analysis, its institutional context, and the motivations of its author may become highly relevant, and a pure SA - with its focus on parametric (i.e. quantified) uncertainty - may be insufficient. The emphasis on the framing ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity analysis is the study of how the uncertainty in the output of a mathematical model or system (numerical or otherwise) can be divided and allocated to different sources of uncertainty in its inputs. A related practice is uncertainty analysis, which has a greater focus on uncertainty quantification and propagation of uncertainty; ideally, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis should be run in tandem. The process of recalculating outcomes under alternative assumptions to determine the impact of a variable under sensitivity analysis can be useful for a range of purposes, including: * Testing the robustness of the results of a model or system in the presence of uncertainty. * Increased understanding of the relationships between input and output variables in a system or model. * Uncertainty reduction, through the identification of model input that cause significant uncertainty in the output and should therefore be the focus of attention in order to increase robustness (perhap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SAPEA
The Scientific Advice Mechanism is a service created by the European Commission which provides independent science advice directly to European Commissioners to inform their decision-making. The Mechanism consists of two parts: the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, an expert group consisting of up to seven leading scientists, and SAPEA, a consortium of five European Academy Networks collectively representing around 100 academies and learned societies across Europe. History Until 2016, science advice in the European Commission was provided by a single Chief Scientific Advisor who reported directly to the President of the European Commission. The last Chief Scientific Advisor, serving from 2012 to 2014, was Dame Anne Glover. On 1 November 2014, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker asked Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science in his mission letter to "make sure that Commission proposals and activities are based on sound scientific evidence a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociology Of Quantification
Sociology of quantification can be defined as the investigation of quantification as a sociological phenomenon in its own right.W. N. Espeland and M. L. Stevens“A sociology of quantification,” Eur. J. Sociol., vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 401–436, 2008 Content According to a review published in 2018E. Popp Berman and D. Hirschman“The Sociology of Quantification: Where Are We Now?,” Contemp. Sociol., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 257–266, 2018 ''Sociology of quantification'' is an expanding fields which includes the literature on the quantified self, that on algorithms,C. O’Neil, Weapons of math destruction : how big data increases inequality and threatens democracy. Random House Publishing Group, 2016. and on various forms of metrics and indicators.W. N. Espeland and M. Sauder, Engines of anxiety : academic rankings, reputation, and accountability. Russell Sage Foundation, 2016.J. Z. Muller, The tyranny of metrics. Princeton University Press , 2018. Older works which can be classifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecological Footprint
The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biologically productive area people use for their consumption to the biologically productive area available within a region or the world (biocapacity, the productive area that can regenerate what people demand from nature). In short, it is a measure of human impact on the environment. Footprint and biocapacity can be compared at the individual, regional, national or global scale. Both footprint and biocapacity change every year with number of people, per person consumption, efficiency of production, and productivity of ecosystems. At a global scale, footprint assessments show how big humanity's demand is compared to what Earth can renew. Global Footprint Network estimates that, as of 2014, humanity has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Box
In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The term can be used to refer to many inner workings, such as those of a transistor, an engine, an algorithm, the human brain, or an institution or government. To analyse an open system with a typical "black box approach", only the behavior of the stimulus/response will be accounted for, to infer the (unknown) ''box''. The usual representation of this ''black box system'' is a data flow diagram centered in the box. The opposite of a black box is a system where the inner components or logic are available for inspection, which is most commonly referred to as a white box (sometimes also known as a "clear box" or a "glass box"). History The modern meaning of the term "black box" seems to have entered the English language around 1945. In electr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantitative Storytelling
Quantitative storytelling (QST) is a systematic approach used to explore the multiplicity of frames potentially legitimate in a scientific study or controversy.[Giampietro, M., Aspinall, R. J., Ramos-Martin, J. and Bukkens, S. G. F. (2014) Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: The Nexus between Energy, Food, Water and Land Use. Taylor & Francis (Routledge Explorations in Sustainability and Governance).](https://books.google.es/books?id=Vb6uAwAAQBAJ) QST assumes that in an interconnected society multiple frameworks and worldviews are legitimately upheld by different entities and social actors. QST looks critically on models used in evidence-based policy (EBP. Such models are often reductionist, in the sense discussed by, in that tractability is achieved at the expenses of suppressing relevant available evidence. QST suggests corrective approaches to this practice. Context Quantitative storytelling (QST) addresses evidence based policy and can be considered as a reaction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes (; born November 25, 1958) is an American historian of science. She became Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University in 2013, after 15 years as Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. She has worked on studies of geophysics, environmental issues such as global warming, and the history of science. In 2010, Oreskes co-authored ''Merchants of Doubt,'' which identified some parallels between the climate change debate and earlier public controversies, notably the tobacco industry's campaign to obscure the link between smoking and serious disease. Early life and education Oreskes is the daughter of Susan Eileen (née Nagin), a teacher,New York Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceteris Paribus
' (also spelled '; () is a Latin phrase, meaning "other things equal"; some other English translations of the phrase are "all other things being equal", "other things held constant", "all else unchanged", and "all else being equal". A statement about a causal, empirical, or logical relation between two states of affairs is ''ceteris paribus'' if it is acknowledged that the statement, although usually accurate in expected conditions, can fail because of, or the relation can be abolished by, intervening factors. chapter 2 A ''ceteris paribus'' assumption is often key to scientific inquiry, because scientists seek to eliminate factors that perturb a relation of interest. Thus epidemiologists, for example, may seek to control independent variables as factors that may influence dependent variables—the outcomes of interest. Likewise, in scientific modeling, simplifying assumptions permit illustration of concepts considered relevant to the inquiry. An example in economics is "If t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Impact Assessment
Policy Impact Assessments (IAs) are formal, evidence-based procedures that assess the economic, social, and environmental effects of public policy. They have been incorporated into policy making in the OECD countries and the European Commission. Key types of impact assessments include global assessments (global level), policy impact assessment (policy level), strategic environmental assessment (programme and plan level), and environmental impact assessment (project level). Impact assessments can focus on specific themes, such as social impact assessments and gender impact assessments. IAs can improve legislation by: * Informing policy makers about potential economic, social, and environmental ramifications * Improving transparency so that contributions to sustainability and "better regulation" are disclosed and special interest lobbying is discouraged * Increasing public participation in order to reflect a range of considerations, thereby improving the legitimacy of policies * Clar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NUSAP
NUSAP is a notational system for the management and communication of uncertainty in science for policy, based on five categories for characterizing any quantitative statement: Numeral, Unit, Spread, Assessment and Pedigree. NUSAP was introduced by Silvio Funtowicz and Jerome Ravetz in the 1990 book '' Uncertainty and Quality in Science for Policy''.Funtowicz, S. & Ravetz J., 1990, Uncertainty and Quality in Science for Policy, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. See also van der Sluijs et al. 2005.van der Sluijs, J., Craye, M., Funtowicz, S., Kloprogge, P., Ravetz, J., and Risbey, J. (2005) Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Measures of Uncertainty in Model based Environmental Assessment: the NUSAP System, Risk Analysis, 25 (2). p. 481-492. The concept The name "NUSAP" is an acronym for the categories just mentioned. * Numeral will usually be an ordinary number; * Unit refers to the units used in Numeral; * Spread is an assessment of the error in the value of the Numeral; * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The Commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner. There is one member per member state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. The Commission President (currently Ursula von der Leyen) is proposed by the European Council (the 27 heads of state/governments) and elected by the European Parliament. The Council of the European Union then nominates the other members of the Commission in agreement with the nominated President, and the 27 members as a team are then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Post-normal Science
Post-normal science (PNS) was developed in the 1990s by Silvio Funtowicz and Jerome R. Ravetz.Funtowicz, S. O. and Ravetz, J. R., 1991. "A New Scientific Methodology for Global Environmental Issues", in Costanza, R. (ed.), Ecological Economics: The Science and Management of Sustainability: 137–152. New York: Columbia University Press.Funtowicz, S. O. and Ravetz, J. R., 1992. "Three types of risk assessment and the emergence of postnormal science", in Krimsky, S. and Golding, D. (eds.), Social theories of risk: 251–273. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. It is a problem-solving strategy appropriate when "facts reuncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent", conditions often present in policy-relevant research. In those situations, PNS recommends suspending temporarily the traditional scientific ideal of truth, concentrating on quality as assessed by internal and extended peer communities. PNS can be considered as complementing the styles of analysis based ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
