B.5.TC:4.4 - Locate what causes the difference
Follow each answer back to the first step where the applications cease to agree. Use the following distinctions where they resolve that case.
| What differs | Next useful operation |
|---|---|
| The question or output meaning | Restate the common question; keep other answers as complementary contributions. |
| A premise, boundary or retained distinction | Work the accounts under aligned premises, or show which case requires the additional premise or information. |
| A construction or inference | Recover the competing steps. Derive their relation or exhibit where one fails under its stated conditions. |
| An approximation or execution | Compare the mathematical result with the implemented procedure and its error under the relevant conditions. |
| The proposed physical or causal account | Derive the consequence on which they disagree; use the available domain knowledge and evidence for that consequence. |
Several differences can interact. Aligning one premise can remove an apparent conflict; it can also expose a remaining one. Keep the remaining question named. If the answer depends on a missing correspondence or inaccessible operation, return that missing contribution rather than ranking the theories from their summaries.
Additional evidence is useful when it can change the needed conclusion. First use an available derivation, counterexample, observation or established result. If the difference remains consequential, compare the possible gain from a discriminating inquiry with its cost and feasibility under C.11.DUA. A difference that cannot change the present use can remain unresolved. When it does change the use and cannot be settled, retain the conditional answers or obtain a sufficient weaker result.