The Curve Fitting Problem, Data Validation, and Inductive Generalization in Machine Learning

Aris Spanos and Deborah Mayo’s error-statistical approach to statistical modeling and inference adopts the reliability of inductive inference as a primary criterion for statistical model and estimator selection (e.g., curve fitting). In this paper, we expand the error-statistical approach’s adoption of reliable inductive inference by scrutinizing the epistemic legitimacy of contemporary techniques leveraged in data science. We argue that data validation and testing potentially provides a direct, measurable method of evaluating evidence for reliable inductive inferences in cases where the error-statistical approach is not easily applied, and conclude with an exploration of core methodological foils to the reliability of inductive inference revealed by this argument.