Lesson plan

Simon model

In applied probability theory, the Simon model is a class of stochastic models that results in a power-law distribution function. It was proposed by Herbert A. Simon to account for the wide range of empirical distributions following a power-law. It models the dynamics of a system of elements with associated counters (e.g., words and their frequencies in texts, or nodes in a network and their connectivity k ). In this model the dynamics of the system is based on constant growth via addition of new elements (new instances of words) as well as incrementing the counters (new occurrences of a word) at a rate proportional to their current values.

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Article summary

In applied probability theory, the Simon model is a class of stochastic models that results in a power-law distribution function. It was proposed by Herbert A. Simon to account for the wide range of empirical distributions following a power-law. It models the dynamics of a system of elements with associated counters (e.g., words and their frequencies in texts, or nodes in a network and their connectivity k ). In this model the dynamics of the system is based on constant growth via addition of new elements (new instances of words) as well as incrementing the counters (new occurrences of a word) at a rate proportional to their current values.

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.