Observational equivalence (original) (raw)
Observational equivalence is the property of two or more underlying entities being indistinguishable on the basis of their observable implications. Thus, for example, two scientific theories are observationally equivalent if all of their empirically testable predictions are identical, in which case empirical evidence cannot be used to distinguish which is closer to being correct; indeed, it may be that they are actually two different perspectives on one underlying theory.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| dbo:abstract | Observational equivalence is the property of two or more underlying entities being indistinguishable on the basis of their observable implications. Thus, for example, two scientific theories are observationally equivalent if all of their empirically testable predictions are identical, in which case empirical evidence cannot be used to distinguish which is closer to being correct; indeed, it may be that they are actually two different perspectives on one underlying theory. In econometrics, two parameter values (or two structures, from among a class of statistical models) are considered observationally equivalent if they both result in the same probability distribution of observable data. This term often arises in relation to the identification problem. In the formal semantics of programming languages, two terms M and N are observationally equivalent if and only if, in all contexts C[...] where C[M] is a valid term, it is the case that C[N] is also a valid term with the same value. Thus it is not possible, within the system, to distinguish between the two terms. This definition can be made precise only with respect to a particular calculus, one that comes with its own specific definitions of term, context, and the value of a term. The notion is due to James H. Morris, who called it "extensional equivalence." (en) |
| dbo:wikiPageID | 1064136 (xsd:integer) |
| dbo:wikiPageLength | 3012 (xsd:nonNegativeInteger) |
| dbo:wikiPageRevisionID | 1057985763 (xsd:integer) |
| dbo:wikiPageWikiLink | dbc:Statistical_theory dbc:Econometric_modeling dbr:Empirical dbc:Programming_language_semantics dbr:James_H._Morris dbr:Formal_semantics_of_programming_languages dbr:Parameter_identification_problem dbr:Term_(logic) dbr:Econometrics dbr:Scientific_theory dbr:Observable dbr:Testable dbr:Underdetermination |
| dbp:wikiPageUsesTemplate | dbt:Comp-sci-stub dbt:Reflist dbt:Econometrics-stub |
| dcterms:subject | dbc:Statistical_theory dbc:Econometric_modeling dbc:Programming_language_semantics |
| gold:hypernym | dbr:Property |
| rdf:type | yago:WikicatStatisticalModels yago:Assistant109815790 yago:CausalAgent100007347 yago:LivingThing100004258 yago:Model110324560 yago:Object100002684 yago:Organism100004475 yago:Person100007846 yago:PhysicalEntity100001930 yago:Worker109632518 yago:YagoLegalActor yago:YagoLegalActorGeo dbo:Building yago:Whole100003553 |
| rdfs:comment | Observational equivalence is the property of two or more underlying entities being indistinguishable on the basis of their observable implications. Thus, for example, two scientific theories are observationally equivalent if all of their empirically testable predictions are identical, in which case empirical evidence cannot be used to distinguish which is closer to being correct; indeed, it may be that they are actually two different perspectives on one underlying theory. (en) |
| rdfs:label | Observational equivalence (en) |
| owl:sameAs | freebase:Observational equivalence wikidata:Observational equivalence https://global.dbpedia.org/id/f9iF |
| prov:wasDerivedFrom | wikipedia-en:Observational_equivalence?oldid=1057985763&ns=0 |
| foaf:isPrimaryTopicOf | wikipedia-en:Observational_equivalence |
| is dbo:wikiPageRedirects of | dbr:Observationally_equivalent dbr:Operational_equivalence dbr:Contextual_equivalence |
| is dbo:wikiPageWikiLink of | dbr:ProVerif dbr:Denotational_semantics dbr:Algebraic_semantics_(computer_science) dbr:Indeterminacy_of_translation dbr:Timeline_of_luminiferous_aether dbr:Maximum_likelihood_estimation dbr:Theory dbr:Identifiability dbr:Walter_Kaufmann_(physicist) dbr:Galileo_affair dbr:Parameter_identification_problem dbr:List_of_statistics_articles dbr:Quantum_reference_frame dbr:One-way_speed_of_light dbr:Underdetermination dbr:Observationally_equivalent dbr:Operational_equivalence dbr:Contextual_equivalence |
| is foaf:primaryTopic of | wikipedia-en:Observational_equivalence |