A.1.RI:4.2 - Separate observations, rules and assumptions

Recover the observations already available, their occasions and the limitations that matter to this question. Distinguish the observed indication from a position, identity or event inferred through it. C.16.MR and C.16.IR help when the measurement interpretation itself remains unresolved.

Recover the subject rules used to connect those observations: allowed changes, motion bounds, lifecycle events or other continuity conditions. Include the observation conditions needed by the connection. “Each object was observed once” and “the set of objects stayed fixed” are substantive premises when they make the association one-to-one.

Keep an assumed rule available as an assumption. A conclusion derived under it can be useful while a later question requires a different or better-supported account. Use the assurance and information work appropriate to that receiving question.