Modeling (Computer Applications)
Computer modeling is a mathematical tool used to analyze complicated systems or to predict events such as floods, climate changes, or population changes. Computer models are applied in many disciplines, from engineering (predicting the strength of a bridge or dam) to economics (predicting inflation rates) to ecology (describing a food chain/web or projecting the survival chances of an endangered species). A model may consist of a few simple calculations on a spreadsheet, or it may involve millions of calculations on hundreds of thousands of input parameters, as in the case of general circulation models used to describe and predict climate conditions. Both simple and complex models involve quantifying input variables and the relationships between them, in order to produce numeric output that can describe or predict some real world phenomenon or condition. Models are often criticized because they can generalize real-world phenomena unrealistically, or because any errors in initial assumptions are expanded as assumptions are added and multiplied together. However, modeling remains a common tool because it is often the only available method to find answers to important research questions.
Models let researchers "experiment" with systems that do not allow manipulative experimentation. You cannot actually build a power plant just to test its effect on a population, and you cannot deliberately change the temperature of the atmosphere in order to see what happens to plant populations and sea levels.
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