Date of Award
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Natural Sciences
Second Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Toro Farmer, Gerardo
Area of Concentration
Biology
Abstract
Empirically, I perform three different mapping validation procedures (by eye, photo-quadrat, and point count) in order to compare their functionality as ground truth data. I calculate the benthic substrate coverage in a subset of the Sarasota Bay in Florida by using high resolution aerial images and perform accuracy assessments using the three validation procedures. Philosophically, I assess how the methodology of mapping validation procedures assumes a framework of scientific realism for practicing scientists, implying an absolutism about the truth in scientific claims. I then assess the procedures I used in the comparative study of mapping validation procedures through the epistemic framework of Catherine Elgin’s True Enough.
Recommended Citation
Guardado, Maria, "EMPIRICAL AND EPISTEMIC JUSTIFICATIONS:A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF MAPPING VALIDATION TECHNIQUES FOR EVALUATING SEAGRASS ABUNDANCE" (2022). Theses & ETDs. 6237.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6237