Please Do Not Duplicate Case Formulation Procedure Without Author Acknowledgment.

CASE FORMULATION AS INTERPRETATION: 5 STEP FOR ACHIEVING WARRANTED ASSERTABILITY IN ANALYTICAL AND EVIDENCE-BASED THINKING & WRITING Dawson S. Schultz, Ph.D.
The following is a procedure or tool that can be useful as a guide to analytical and argument-based thinking and writing: Dr. Ds Case Formulation Procedure. This procedure can assist you in learning how to identify and apply factual and theoretical considerations to the challenge of questioning, identifying, describing, interpreting, analyzing, understanding, and resolving issues, concerns, and problems that may arise in everyday life (and in business and professional life as well)all of which are involved in achieving warranted assertability of claims you wish to make. This procedure also can be useful when employed as a tool for analyzing and resolving complex ethical and legal issues and problems that arise when reflecting upon claims that pertain to justice (injustice) and equality (inequality). The procedure is especially useful as a guide to writing when attempting to formulate and organize materials involved in writing essays. You, however, need not organize the parts of your essay according to the exact order or sequence of steps mentioned below. Nevertheless, your work likely can be improved by organizing the essay in ways that include the various need areas indicated by each of the 5 steps in this analytical procedure. The basic 5 steps of case formulation can be summarized as follows:

1) 2)

IDENTIFY: Describe the troublesome issue or problem. State the claim in a few sentences. Briefly elaborate its significance. HYPOTHESIZE: State the thesis or purpose which indicates how you believe the issue or problem can best be resolved (your solution). No statement or claim can be warranted (shown to be true) that is not well supported by facts and reasons (evidence). Follow the steps below to show how your claim is more valid and sound than other competing alternative interpretations.

3)

TELL THE STORY: Give a narrative account or explanation of what is going on in the situation in question which includes: Identifying and describing the relevant facts. Organizing the data into a meaningful temporal pattern. Interpreting the tales significance.

4)

ANALYZE: Evaluate the truth of your thesis by providing a basis for its warranted assertability: Weigh the pros vs. cons of the above story or explanation (in light of relevant values and principles) against that of alternative and competing interpretations as a means of establishing evidence that is sufficient to provide a reasonable basis that supports your claim.

5)

JUSTIFY: Review and highlight the above steps of this case formulation (interpretation) to determine whether, and if so how, together, it makes the case for your thesis or claim. Review and highlight the evidence at hand to see if it supports your thesis as a reasonable basis for showing how and why your claim to truth is more compellingmore valid and soundthan the available and competing alternatives.