The mind, the lab, and the field: Three kinds of populations in scientific practice

Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther; Ryan Giordano; Michael D. Edge; Rasmus Nielsen

doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.01.009

The mind, the lab, and the field: Three kinds of populations in scientific practice

Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther^*, Ryan Giordano, Michael D. Edge, Rasmus Nielsen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Biocomplexity

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Scientists use models to understand the natural world, and it is important not to conflate model and nature. As an illustration, we distinguish three different kinds of populations in studies of ecology and evolution: theoretical, laboratory, and natural populations, exemplified by the work of R. A. Fisher, Thomas Park, and David Lack, respectively. Biologists are rightly concerned with all three types of populations. We examine the interplay between these different kinds of populations, and their pertinent models, in three examples: the notion of "effective" population size, the work of Thomas Park on Tribolium populations, and model-based clustering algorithms such as Structure. Finally, we discuss ways to move safely between three distinct population types while avoiding confusing models and reality.

Original language	English
Journal	Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C :Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Volume	52
Pages (from-to)	12-21
Number of pages	10
ISSN	1369-8486
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.01.009
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2015

Keywords

Ecology
Models
Ontology
Population Genetics
Reification
Statistics

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10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.01.009

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The mind, the lab, and the field: Three kinds of populations in scientific practice. / Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt; Giordano, Ryan; Edge, Michael D. et al.
In: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C :Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Vol. 52, 01.08.2015, p. 12-21.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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The mind, the lab, and the field: Three kinds of populations in scientific practice

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Keywords

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