Empirical Research on Populations of Adaptive Individuals

Abstract

This chapter studies how modeling supports empirical research. The benefit of integrating modeling and empirical research has long been recognized: theorists and modelers pose hypotheses that empirical researchers then design studies to test, and empirical research informs the development of new hypotheses. Such integration may be particularly valuable in frameworks that include multiple levels of organization, from individuals to populations to communities. But does working across levels of organization change the relationships of theory, modeling, and empirical research? What kinds of field and laboratory studies do we need, and at what levels of organization, to support modeling? The chapter assesses these questions. Thinking about the relation between modeling and empirical research requires one to address the entire process of model-based research, which is usefully characterized as a modeling cycle. The chapter then explores how the kind of modeling and theory development presented in this book can contribute to empirical studies and research.