C008 — Claim Definition¶


Research	R0052 — Methodology Claims
Run	2026-03-31
Claim	C008

Claim as Received¶

Platt deliberately numbered his final step "1'" (one-prime, not four) to signal that it's a loop, not a sequence.

Claim as Clarified¶

In Platt's 1964 'Strong Inference' paper, the final step of the method is numbered 1' (one-prime) rather than 4, which signals that the process is cyclical — after completing steps 1-3, you recycle back to a refined version of step 1.

BLUF¶

The claim is accurate. Platt numbered his final step 1' (one-prime), not 4. The step reads: '1') Recycling the procedure, making subhypotheses or sequential hypotheses to refine the possibilities that remain.' Multiple sources confirm this deliberate numbering to signal a loop.

Scope¶

Domain: History of scientific methodology
Timeframe: 1964
Testability: Directly verifiable against Platt's original paper

Assessment Summary¶

Probability: Almost certain (95-99%)

Confidence: High

Hypothesis outcome: H1 supported — the 1' numbering is confirmed by multiple reproductions of Platt's text.

[Full assessment in assessment.md.]

Status¶

Field	Value
Date created	2026-03-31
Date completed	2026-03-31
Researcher profile	Phil Moore
Prompt version	ai-research-methodology v1 research.md
Revisit by	2027-03-31
Revisit trigger	Textual analysis of original paper reveals different numbering