Authoring a test claim¶
Domain guide
A test claim is an argument: one theory, one decisive fact, one expected movement. These five habits make a claim that tests something.
State one archetype cleanly. A claim that tries to exercise three theories at once tests none of them well. Author for one theory, then add a second party only when the archetype calls for two targets.
Decide every Tier 1 field on purpose. Stated, not stated, or omitted is the whole test. A tester who omits a field by accident has authored an indeterminate.
Author the negative before the positive. Decide which single fact, removed, should move the answer, and what it should move to. If you cannot name that fact, the claim is not testing the theory.
Record who said each fact. Police report, other driver, insured, contractor, utility log. The thesis names the speaker and so should your claim.
Read the brief's last section first. "What we could not determine" is where the engine tells you whether your claim said what you thought it said.