Glossary

Concept Model

A detailed description of an entire simulation model. Concept models use narrative, math equations, and diagrams to describe a system we wish to study.

Entity Component System

One of the key software patterns used by vivarium to facilitate the modular design of simulation models. In our modeling, the entities are people and the components represent different attributes of those people. The software is organized around components representing attributes rather than components representing people. [Wikipedia article]

Global Burden of Disease

The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) is a comprehensive regional and global research program of disease burden that assesses mortality and disability from major diseases, injuries, and risk factors. [Wikipedia article]

Internally Consistent Model

A model whose rules and logical structure agree with the data used to drive it. Internally consistent models are verifiable.

Simulation Outcome

A quantity we can observe in a simulation. Some examples: counts of drugs distributed, cases of disease, counts of death.

Sufficiently Complex Model

A model that contains enough detail to accurately capture all outcomes of interest.

Validation

The process by which we determine whether a model is “correct”, meaning it makes logical sense, has the sort of behavior we expect, and is sufficiently accurate for the intended modeling purposes. Validation applies both to the concept model and the simulation implementation of the model, though the criteria we use for validation may be different.

Verification

The process by which we determine whether a simulation implementation is error free and accurately implements a concept model.