The term ad hoc means "for this", it comes from Latin and is used especially to catalog different entities, bodies or actions that have a particular purpose. This expression can be observed in various branches, the law being where it is perhaps most used, although it is also used in science, philosophy, medicine, marketing and even to name certain types of telecommunications networks.
It is a Latin phrase, that is, it is an expression in Latin that is used in Spanish with a meaning very similar to the original. According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the term ad hoc is used to refer to what is said or done only for a specific purpose. He also recognizes it as an adjective, to indicate that something is adequate, appropriate or specially arranged for a fact.
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However, as we will see later, there are cases in which the meaning is different, as in science, which is used to indicate that what is "ad hoc" is an exception to an established law.
Usage examples
Generally, the term "ad hoc" means "for this purpose", and its use is not in everyday speech, but rather within the legal, scientific or technological world. Let's see.
Right
In this branch it is interpreted as "for a specific purpose." There are ad hoc lawyers, that is, those appointed to attend a specific case, but with this term judges, tutors or administrators are also appointed. The same happens with a contract, one that is ad hoc will be limited to the actions or events that are contemplated in it, period.
There is also the creation of ad hoc courts, that is, they are created for a specific case. For example, the only courts with these characteristics constituted by the United Nations (UN) are the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in 1993, and the Tribunal for Rwanda, in 1994.
Both were created by the UN Security Council to judge crimes perpetrated during the war, the powers being fixed to a defined period of time and space.
Medicine
In this field, ad hoc committees or groups of health professionals created for a specific purpose to elucidate or provide a mass consensus on various issues are called ad hoc.
There is also the term "lex artis ad hoc". It seems complicated, but it is not so complicated. Let's say that for a television it works, there was someone who evaluated that it does so before it goes on the market. In other words, the purpose for which we buy a television is guaranteed by the brand.
Well, that in medicine is not so, since it is difficult for a doctor to guarantee a 100% final result. So how is the physician's ability assessed? A health intervention is considered "good" when it conforms to the relevant technical laws for that time.
In other words, in this evaluation, the professional, the complexity of the case, the significance of the study, and the incidence of external factors, such as the patient, their family members, or the health organization where the treatment is carried out are taken into account. practice.
This is known as lex artis (law of art), and as it not only depends on the professional, what they have studied and their updating in their field, but also that of the patient and their condition, it is further specified with the term "ad hoc".
So, since a result cannot be guaranteed in medicine, "lex artis ad hoc" means the way to do things right. And that does have to be assured. It is an obligation of means: to provide the pertinent care to the patient and the techniques that medicine indicates for that specific case.
Science
The "ad hoc hypotheses" are those that are formulated to try to prove something when a new theory fails to do so in order to ensure that this new theory is not refuted, directing the investigation to the demonstration of the specific hypothesis.
Philosophy
In this discipline they also speak of "ad hoc hypotheses", but in this case they refer to arguments and thoughts that arose from the same event that they try to explain.
Telecommunications
It is known that smartphones work with wireless networks to communicate with other people, something that has happened more or less since the 1980s. These wireless systems work with the work of a fixed, centralized structure, which acts as an access point, and in places where this deployment does not exist, technology does not work.
However, with the advancement of bluetooth, new generation wireless systems were born, known as "ad hoc mobile networks", which function despite the absence of a fixed structure.
It is autonomous (that is, it governs itself) and consists of a series of nodes connected by wireless links. Each of these nodes works as if it were a fixed structure, and at the same time acts as a router for the rest of the nodes in the network.
Computing
An "ad hoc" network is a temporary connection between two or more computers or devices used for a specific purpose, such as a network game or printer sharing.
These types of networks are of the wireless type, and the interconnected machines do so without the need for a router.
As Andrew Tenembaum explains in "computer networks", what distinguishes ad hoc networks from "wired" ones is that in the former all the common rules about fixed typologies, fixed IP relationships or location were eliminated. etc.
Marketing
Perhaps it is the field that most recently joined its use. In marketing there are various ways of conducting market studies, as well as variables, the market itself, the team and work, the purpose, etc.
However, it is possible to find two main types of studies: long-term projects, or ad hoc market research projects.
The former are made to study the participants over a longer period of time or to continuously measure a goal. Instead, ad hoc projects are unique, short-term, and designed to achieve a specific goal.
References
- Ad hoc. (2019). Royal Spanish Academy. Recovered from: dle.rae.es
- Dr. Humayun Bakht. (2018). «Ad-Hoc Mobile Networks». Recovered from: books.google.bg
- Jagannanthan Sarangapani. (2007). "Wireless Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks: Protocols, Performance and Control." Recovered from: books.google.bg
- Lex Artis Ad Hoc. (2019). FisioEducation Association. Recovered from: fisioeducacion.es
- What is Ad Hoc Market Research? (2016). Recovered from: drivesearch.com
- Andrew Tenembaum. (2003). "Computer networks". Recovered from: books.google.bg