Bokulich, Alisa2019-08-192019-08-192018-05-17Alisa Bokulich. 2018. "Using models to correct data: paleodiversity and the fossil record." Synthese, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-018-1820-x0039-7857https://hdl.handle.net/2144/37178Despite an enormous philosophical literature on models in science, surprisingly little has been written about data models and how they are constructed. In this paper, I examine the case of how paleodiversity data models are constructed from the fossil data. In particular, I show how paleontologists are using various model-based techniques to correct the data. Drawing on this research, I argue for the following related theses: first, the ‘purity’ of a data model is not a measure of its epistemic reliability. Instead it is the fidelity of the data that matters. Second, the fidelity of a data model in capturing the signal of interest is a matter of degree. Third, the fidelity of a data model can be improved ‘vicariously’, such as through the use of post hoc model-based correction techniques. And, fourth, data models, like theoretical models, should be assessed as adequate (or inadequate) for particular purposes.en-USPhilosophyHistory and philosophy of specific fieldsArtificial intelligence and image processingPaleontologyPaleobiologyEvolutionFossilBiodiversitySimulationsClimate scienceSepkovskiData modelsPhilosophyArticle10.1007/s11229-018-1820-x343468