C.28:4.5 - Counterfactual sampling realizability

Use this result to answer whether a declared target distribution can be sampled under current constraints. Raghavan and Bareinboim, 2025, Definition 3.4 and Theorem 3.5 give a construction-or-failure decision for their graph and available-action setting. The result is prospective: it does not say that sampling was planned, performed, or yielded data.

CounterfactualSamplingRealizabilityResult:
  causalUseQuestionRef: CausalUseQuestionRef
  targetCounterfactualDistributionRef
  targetCausalityLadderRung: counterfactualComparisonRung
  modelOrDiagramRefs?
  sameUnitConflictCheck
  ancestorRegimeConflictCheck
  physicalConstraintRefs
  ethicalConstraintRefs
  operationalConstraintRefs
  unitHistoryAvailabilityRef?
  decisionMethodRef
  decisionDerivationRef?
  positiveSamplingConstructionRef?  # required when realizable

  obstructionOrFailureWitnessRef?   # required when nonrealizable
  status: realizable | nonrealizable | unclear
  supportedUse
  unsupportedUse

A realizable result cites the sampling construction that the decision Method accepts for the exact target and constraints. A nonrealizable result exposes the obstruction or failure witness. unclear names what remains unresolved. Bounds on a counterfactual probability belong to the identification result at :4.4; they constrain what can be inferred about that probability, while this result asks how draws from the target distribution can be obtained. “Realized counterfactual sampling” never means observing incompatible outcomes for one unit in one realized world.

If the team plans to draw samples, use a separate A.15.2 WorkPlan. If sampling occurs, recover every precise performer’s A.13 core and independently admit the dated Work under A.15.1. Add F.6 only when the sampling claim also needs precise assignment-bound attribution. If the samples are used as evidence, cite the resulting data through an A.10 evidence path. Actual sampling support requires both the dated Work and resulting data or evidence ref; neither realizable nor a WorkPlan can stand in for them. Identification from those data, when claimed, is another CausalIdentificationResult.