Name: - Abass Ali Shah

Class: - MBA (1st Sem)

Roll no. 406
Subject: - Quantitative Techniques
Teacher Concerned: - Prof. Iqbal
Assignment Topic: - Scientific
Methodology as applied to Model Building

Scientific Methodology:-
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena,
acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be
termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable,
empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A
scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and
experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.

The essential steps of the scientific methodology are:-

1. Defining the problem.

2. Gather information and resources (Observe)

3. Form hypothesis.

4. Perform experiment and collect data.

5. Analyze data.

6. Interpret data and draw conclusions.

7. Publish Results.

Now in case of Operations Research we use the same methodology to solve

business problems. The main step in this is “The Model Building”.

Model: - It is a representation containing the essential structure of some object or

event in the real world.
Model Building: - It is the process of converting a problem into a simple and
understandable form.

Process of Model Building (Application of Scientific Methodology): -

1. Identifying the problem: - The problem is to be clearly defined and the

conditions for further observations are determined. This is one of the
primary properties of scientific methodology i.e. DEFINING THE
PROBLEM.

2. Problem Formulation: - In this step a clear and concise statement of the

problem is developed. Most of the times the problem is formulated in
Mathematical framework. Thus here the information is collected and
hypothesis is formed. This is also a characteristic of scientific methods.

3. Building of Model of problem: - In this step a decision maker abstracts the

most relevant factors to the problem from the real life situations. Then the
factors are combined in some logical manner so as to form a “model” of the
problem. This step is synonymous with the actions preceding “a scientific
experiment.”

4. Providing solutions: - Here a model is finally solved and the solutions thus
obtained are analyzed in the context of the problem. A solution to a model
implies determination of a specific set of decision variables that would yield
a desired level of output. This step represents the penultimate step of
scientific methodology i.e. “Interpretation of output data from an
experiment.”
 5. Model Validation: - This is the final step in the process. Here it is
determined whether the model represents the real life situation or not.
Usually the validity of a model is tested by comparing its performance with
the past data available in respect of the actual system. If the model is not
valid, then it is discarded and again a new model is built. This process goes
on and on......

Thus it can be easily inferred from the above steps that model building is
completely based on scientific methodology.