Frequently asked questions about global modeling

When a global model is attempted from experimental data, some preprocessing might be required. Therefore it is only natural to wonder what kind of effects the preprocessing might have on the modeling procedure. This concern is manifested in the form of recurrent frequently asked questions, such as "how does the preprocessing affect the underlying dynamics?" This paper aims at providing answers to important questions related to (i) data interpolation, (ii) data smoothing, (iii) data-estimated derivatives, (iv) model structure selection, and (v) model validation. The answers provided will hopefully remove some of those doubts and one shall be more confident not only on global modeling but also on various data analyses which may be also dependent on data preprocessing. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3125705]