MDPE.16:3.4 - State what is observed before naming a selection pressure
One observation can support several explanations. Class enrolment, views, bookings, a competition result, a teacher’s choice, or the declining use of an arrangement is first an observation with a sampling basis. Before treating it as a pressure, state which claim is available:
| Available claim | What it supports here |
|---|---|
| association or trace | Describes co-occurrence or change. It can inform a qualified present account or a worthwhile next observation; it does not by itself justify changing the suspected cause. |
| obtaining rule, constraint, access, capability, or resource relation | Establishes a current condition that directly admits or blocks Work. It can justify removing that condition when the Agent has authority and the other required relations are known. |
| causal-contribution hypothesis | States that an arrangement may be helping retain or remove the branch. Give its basis, serious rivals, uncertainty, decision reach and reopen condition. Select a discriminating trial only when feasible and worth its full burden; retain an adequate bounded decision when no such trial is needed. |
bounded C.28 causal-use result | States the causal use supported and the nearby stronger use not supported. The receiving decision still remains with this pattern or its direct Method. |
For example, “the electronic branch appeared in only one of four recent events” can fit unavailable equipment, venue restrictions, performer readiness, curation, audience response or sampling variation. The trace can motivate checking a relation when that check can change the decision at worthwhile cost. A documented venue rule establishes an access constraint. A latency-to-curator-rejection claim remains a causal-contribution hypothesis until an applicable basis supports that causal use; a current bounded availability decision can finish without settling it.
Also inspect the representation used to compare alternatives. Ask what distinctions it preserves or suppresses and whether another representation could change membership, upkeep or a selected trial. Choose any new comparison by its full contribution and cost; neither a population study nor a cheap reversible test is required merely to complete a sufficiently supported decision.