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Engineering Systems Integration
experiences) are essential to developing an understanding about the joint
occurrence of events or experiences.* Mechanisms are enacted (i.e., whether
by action or activities) through variables. Measures are the independent variables that are reference points from which other items can be evaluated.
Measures are fundamental to comparing projects.
Variables take on different numerical quantities or states of existence.
Variables differ from constants, and constants are stable within a defined
construct. Variables indicate the linkages between events and experiences
and help indicate the possible causal relations. Discovering indicators and
isolating variables are an integral part of the scientific method. † The investigation into the relationships between events or between experiences is organized and progresses through method—the intervening substance and way
of going between principle and practice (Pawson 1989). Mechanisms convert
or arrange inputs into outputs basically mapping a set of characteristics into
outcomes. A mechanism converts inputs (independent variables) into outputs (dependent variables) (Reskin 2003). Constructs that relate multiple
independent variables are referred to as metrics. Mechanisms and metrics
are important for comparing projects.
The relations between the variables may suggest possible deterministic
qualities that influence the behaviors that are observed, perhaps considerably. Under certain conditions, a variable may be restricted in a pair-wise
fashion with other variables to ascertain if their interactions are prima facie
suggestive of an inevitable consequence or deterministically causal by their
portrayal. By careful design of experiments or well-conceived gedanken
experiments ‡ the independence of a variable can be investigated in this fashion. The nature of a system or a system component can be construed as being
dependent on the variables that affect its make-up and design. However, to
quantify the system aspects and features, variables that are independent of
other influences (i.e., other variables) form the groundwork to describe the
system operations, be combined for accurate representations of the system
(i.e., models), and be predictive of situations in which the system is planned
to operate. Discovering and isolating independent variables or a set of variables whose combinatorial actions and influences act in concert as a single
independent variable is a primary task of the systems engineer, systems
architect, and systems integrator. The dependencies of variables are important for comparing projects.
* The precedence for this position on mechanisms is based on the procedures of a physicist
who would first observe and then conjure a law of the basic or underlying phenomenon. The
law would be predicated on a mechanistic perspective that linked the observed behaviors
with a principle of action. The implication is that a simple causal relationship exists and is
descriptive of what is observed in nature. The causal relationships derive from variables that
capture these relationships.
† Method organizes and represents the structures, artifacts, concepts, means, and context into
the endeavor and exercise of the work.
‡ Thought experiments.
Engineering Systems Integration
experiences) are essential to developing an understanding about the joint
occurrence of events or experiences.* Mechanisms are enacted (i.e., whether
by action or activities) through variables. Measures are the independent variables that are reference points from which other items can be evaluated.
Measures are fundamental to comparing projects.
Variables take on different numerical quantities or states of existence.
Variables differ from constants, and constants are stable within a defined
construct. Variables indicate the linkages between events and experiences
and help indicate the possible causal relations. Discovering indicators and
isolating variables are an integral part of the scientific method. † The investigation into the relationships between events or between experiences is organized and progresses through method—the intervening substance and way
of going between principle and practice (Pawson 1989). Mechanisms convert
or arrange inputs into outputs basically mapping a set of characteristics into
outcomes. A mechanism converts inputs (independent variables) into outputs (dependent variables) (Reskin 2003). Constructs that relate multiple
independent variables are referred to as metrics. Mechanisms and metrics
are important for comparing projects.
The relations between the variables may suggest possible deterministic
qualities that influence the behaviors that are observed, perhaps considerably. Under certain conditions, a variable may be restricted in a pair-wise
fashion with other variables to ascertain if their interactions are prima facie
suggestive of an inevitable consequence or deterministically causal by their
portrayal. By careful design of experiments or well-conceived gedanken
experiments ‡ the independence of a variable can be investigated in this fashion. The nature of a system or a system component can be construed as being
dependent on the variables that affect its make-up and design. However, to
quantify the system aspects and features, variables that are independent of
other influences (i.e., other variables) form the groundwork to describe the
system operations, be combined for accurate representations of the system
(i.e., models), and be predictive of situations in which the system is planned
to operate. Discovering and isolating independent variables or a set of variables whose combinatorial actions and influences act in concert as a single
independent variable is a primary task of the systems engineer, systems
architect, and systems integrator. The dependencies of variables are important for comparing projects.
* The precedence for this position on mechanisms is based on the procedures of a physicist
who would first observe and then conjure a law of the basic or underlying phenomenon. The
law would be predicated on a mechanistic perspective that linked the observed behaviors
with a principle of action. The implication is that a simple causal relationship exists and is
descriptive of what is observed in nature. The causal relationships derive from variables that
capture these relationships.
† Method organizes and represents the structures, artifacts, concepts, means, and context into
the endeavor and exercise of the work.
‡ Thought experiments.