# CLAIM_TYPE_TYPOLOGY -- The 5-Type Taxonomy

**Owner:** Claim-Typing Engine (S5). **Consumers:** S5, S1, S7 (3+ RAM skills). **Library:** Public RAM.

This is the canonical typology for claim typing. Read in full at the start of every run; re-read the relevant section at each verb assignment. Do NOT type from memory.

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## The Five Types (anchor question + load-bearing source property + paradigm citation)

### 1. DESCRIPTIVE -- "What is the case?"

- **Anchor question:** What is true right now? What is the prevalence, frequency, distribution, or state?
- **Canonical verbs:** "what is", "describe", "how many", "how prevalent", "what proportion", "characterize", "inventory", "map the landscape of", "what are the features of".
- **Load-bearing source property:** Coverage x Date x Authority (AACODS operationalization of descriptive fitness).
- **Fit-for-purpose methods (Petticrew & Roberts 2003):** surveys, cross-sectional studies, administrative data, registries, well-scoped scoping reviews. RCTs are typically overkill.
- **Paradigm anchor:** Petticrew, M. & Roberts, H. (2003) "Evidence, hierarchies, and typologies: horses for courses," *J Epidemiol Community Health*. Tyndall, J. (2010) *AACODS Checklist*, Flinders University.

### 2. CAUSAL -- "What causes what?"

- **Anchor question:** Does X cause Y? By how much? Under what conditions?
- **Canonical verbs:** "why does", "what causes", "does X affect Y", "is X responsible for", "what is the effect of", "what explains".
- **Load-bearing source property:** Internal validity against confounding. A source either has a credible identification strategy or it does not -- independent of journal prestige.
- **Fit-for-purpose methods:** RCTs (with RoB 2 appraisal), quasi-experiments (with ROBINS-I), instrumental variables, RDD, difference-in-differences, well-specified observational studies with DAG-justified controls.
- **Paradigm anchor:** Cochrane Bias Methods Group (RoB 2 / ROBINS-I). Guyatt et al. (2011) "GRADE guidelines: 3. Rating the quality of evidence," *J Clin Epidemiol*.

### 3. PREDICTIVE -- "What will happen?"

- **Anchor question:** What will occur? What is the probability / trajectory?
- **Canonical verbs:** "will", "predict", "forecast", "what is likely to", "what will be the outcome", "project".
- **Load-bearing source property:** Out-of-sample calibration AND a documented track record. A peer-reviewed model with no out-of-sample validation is LESS fit than a forecaster blog with a documented Brier score.
- **Fit-for-purpose methods:** Prediction models with external validation, superforecaster track records, calibration curves, Brier-score decompositions, structured forecasting tournaments.
- **Paradigm anchor:** Tetlock & Mellers, Good Judgment Project. Steyerberg, E. *Clinical Prediction Models*. Brier-score tradition.
- **FRAGILE-RUBRIC tag required:** no GRADE-analog exists for predictive source appraisal (R2.1 caveat).

### 4. NORMATIVE -- "What ought to be?"

- **Anchor question:** What should happen? What is right / good / obligatory?
- **Canonical verbs:** "should", "ought", "is it ethical", "is it right", "should we", "what policy", "what is the best course".
- **Load-bearing source property:** Argumentative coherence and reflective equilibrium. Expert practitioner framing capacity (Dorst). Empirical scoring does NOT apply.
- **Fit-for-purpose methods:** Frame innovation (Dorst), realist evaluation (Pawson & Tilley CMO), metaethical argument, policy-logic models, deliberative ethics.
- **Paradigm anchor:** Dorst, K. (2015) *Frame Innovation*, MIT Press. SEP metaethics entries. Pawson & Tilley (1997) *Realistic Evaluation*.
- **FRAGILE-RUBRIC tag required:** grounding is framework/practitioner + philosophical; weakest empirical basis of the five (R2.1 caveat).

### 5. INTERPRETIVE -- "What does it mean?"

- **Anchor question:** What does X mean? How is X understood / framed / experienced?
- **Canonical verbs:** "what does it mean", "how do they understand", "how is it framed", "how is it experienced", "what is the significance of", "how is it constructed".
- **Load-bearing source property:** Credibility + plausibility + transferability + thickness (Hammersley); CERQual's methodological-limitations + coherence + adequacy + relevance.
- **Fit-for-purpose methods:** Ethnography, qualitative synthesis (CERQual), discourse analysis, phenomenological inquiry, thick description.
- **Paradigm anchor:** Hammersley, M. (1992) *What's Wrong with Ethnography?* Routledge. Lewin, S. et al. (2018) GRADE-CERQual, *Implementation Science*.

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## Anchor-Question Decision Rule (apply verb-by-verb)

1. Match verb to ONE of the five anchor questions.
2. If verb plausibly matches TWO types, default to the harder-to-satisfy load-bearing property (conservative bias).
3. If verb matches NONE of the five, emit UNTYPABLE + LOW confidence; flag for Evaluator review. Do NOT force-fit.

Citation trail is mandatory. Every type assignment records: verb, anchor-question matched, paradigm citation, one-sentence rationale.
