EXD.Preface:3 - Obtain and Carry the Subject Explanation

Recover the account that supports the connection the recipient needs. It may be a mathematical definition and derivation, a causal finding, a Method account or a recommendation’s rationale. Select its relevant claims while preserving answer-changing conditions, alternatives and limits. The minimum useful account can be very short.

For the mean of a finite list, the subject basis is its sum divided by its count. If A has two values, 2 and 4, its sum is 6 and mean is 3. If B has six values of 8, its sum is 48 and mean is 8. Across individuals, the sum is 54 and the count is eight, giving 6.75. Giving the two group means equal weight instead gives 5.5. Both results have explicit rules; the recipient’s task selects which question to answer.

When a required connection lacks a warrant, state what is missing and which subject work could supply it. An unsupported causal claim needs subject inquiry. An unexplained recommendation needs its decisive premises, alternatives and conditions. A missing mathematical step needs its definition or derivation. An explanation can preserve a useful conditional answer while that input is recovered.

Select a supplying practice by the actual subject. Method Engineering supplies Method content and the rationale for a pattern language. Problem Structuring and Decision Support supplies recommendation grounds; Development Opportunity Construction and Development Direction Advising supplies the advising engagement’s conditions. Human Capability Development supplies representative instructional tasks, feedback tied to their criteria and task-specific assistance. Structure-to-Narrative Rendering supplies a connective account when that form is useful. Research Method Practice supplies the research return when a scientific explanation still needs construction or criticism.

The research return can itself produce useful progress. For example, a research exercise can move from a puzzling observation to a question, two or three rival hypotheses, criticism before experiment and an initial report. Select further empirical work when it can change the answer. The RMP methods qualify a research question, choose a design or sufficient-evidence stop, and revise the affected claims. Communicating an available account does not replace these subject contributions.

This entry carries supplied subject results into explanation work. The six constructive Methods address the remaining explanatory difficulties.