SYSTEM-INQUIRING METHODS (a taxonomy of)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3439 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
For G. KLIR systems inquiry covers: “the full scope of activities by which we attempt to construct systems that are adequate models of some aspect of reality… (in order) to make adequate predictions or retrodictions, to learn how to control the phenomena in any desirable way, and to use all these capabilities for various ends” (1993, p.30).
KLIR tried to establish a “taxonomy of systems” that may possibly be better understood as a taxonomy of methods to establish models of systems (1988).
He defined the following ideas: we start with an “experimental frame”, which determines what precisely we are going to register, defining the limits of our inquiring. The basic element in this experimental frame is a “mask”, i.e., a partialized screen through which we select and observe states and processes.
Using this basic inquiring device, we define a “source system” as a producer of empirical data.
Our observations usually lead us to the discovery of some “type of activity”, characteristic of the source system. Such activity data can be referred to two different aspects of the system:
- The “behavioral system”, corresponding to time-invariant relations.
- The “state-transition system”, characterized by a set of overall states.
Integrating both aspects we obtain the “structure system”, corresponding to a set of interconnected diachronic transformations.
See also
Reconstructability analysis.