John Matthewson (Massey University)
Populations are ubiquitous in science. However, what counts as a population varies from instance to instance, and they are employed in many different investigative contexts. I present a general framework that is inclusive enough to describe the various kinds of population used in scientific research, while also structured enough to usefully distinguish and systematize the cases appropriately. This descriptive structure can then be used to analyze what makes a population suitable for particular scientific purposes, thus introducing a normative aspect to the framework.
