Testing a scientific finding with newly collected data or an independently conducted study. Terminology varies, so the operational meaning should be stated.
Obtaining consistent computational results from the same input data, code and stated computational conditions. Exact bitwise agreement is stronger than agreement to a justified numerical or statistical tolerance.
The recorded origins and transformations of data, including references, versions, preprocessing and identifiers.
The stronger claim that higher-level explanations can or should be replaced by explanations in terms of more basic components and their interactions.
A claim about what entities and processes are made of, distinguished from a claim that every useful explanation must be expressed at the microscopic level.
A role of a biological feature, interpreted either through its contribution to a current system or through its evolutionary history. A claim about function does not imply foresight in evolution.
A higher-level relationship or function can be implemented by different underlying physical mechanisms.
The capacity of a field to frame and test useful explanations at its own level of description, consistently with the physical realization of its objects.
The view that living systems are physically realized and do not require a separate nonphysical substance. This does not by itself settle which level of description provides the best scientific explanation.
First author: Thomas Nagel. The Philosophical Review 83, pp. 435–450, especially pp. 439–442: subjective standpoint versus objective description.
