Elements of Modeling

Abstract

Chapter 2 addresses elements of modeling. Modeling efforts should be driven by the questions that prompted the efforts and the phenomena associated with addressing the questions of interest. Visualizations of the phenomena of interest can help to both engage stakeholders and simplify the trade-offs that need to be addressed. There are a variety of representational paradigms that can be employed to model the evolution of the states of the system of interest. Choices among representations depend on the specific nature of the phenomena of interest, the data available to support use of this representation, and the expertise and preferences of the personnel involved. Computational models—and visualizations—are means to explore phenomena of interest, identify central trade-offs, and foster collaborative solutions. Decision-making teams use models to gain insights into the complexity of their broadly defined enterprise, with an overarching goal of understanding what might happen.