C.11.DUA:2 - Problem

A limitation is often followed by a demand that does not follow from it. “This study cannot establish the effect” can be true while “therefore commission the ideal experiment before doing anything” is infeasible or inferior to a bounded action. Conversely, an inexpensive check may distinguish a damaging commitment from a useful alternative. Skipping it merely because the present answer is convenient repeats the same failure to compare consequences.

The difficulty starts before a well-formed option set. Advice such as “validate thoroughly” can hide an investigator, access requirement, delay, claimed guarantee and transfer of cost to somebody else. The recipient has to recover that work before choosing whether it is worthwhile.

A further failure appears at completion. A method may allow work to proceed without more inquiry yet require a probe block, waiver or explanation of every omitted check before accepting the answer. Producing that account is itself work. Sometimes a retained reason protects a later use; sometimes it adds nothing to the completed decision.