ABSTRACT
Suppose we settle the dispute between realism and instrumentalism. The problem still remains of how exactly observation and evidence, the collection of data, etc., actually enable us to choose among scientific theories. On the one hand, that they do so has been taken for granted across several centuries of science and its philosophy. On the other hand, no one has fully explained how they do so, and in this century the challenges facing the explanation of exactly how evidence controls theory have increased.
