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TERM-056: question drift: a provisional answer becoming part of the question an inquiry is pursuing, as distinct from query drift, in which the queries move away from a question that stays fixed

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Properties5
StatusActive
Tagsepistemology, information-retrieval
Linenucleating-argument
Used byCLAIM-301 — Iterative retrieval can turn a provisional interpretation into a premise: a framing selects what is encountered, what is encountered reinforces the framing, and the question being investigated drifts as well as the queries
Cited as “complements” byTERM-095 — inquiry: a process that pursues a question, written (Σ, A, 𝓘, 𝓞, 𝓚, 𝓑): a language in which it is posed, an answer space that says which differences would count as an answer, the interventions and observations that make those differences accessible, criteria for judging candidate answers, and the resources it runs on; it is reflexive when any of these becomes what it is pursuing

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Definition

A21 §3: “Query drift: retrieval terms progressively depart from the original information need. Question drift: a provisional explanation becomes embedded in the definition of the problem being investigated.” Its example: “Why did it fail?” becomes “Why was the dosage insufficient?” A23 VI.C: “The latter can persist even when individual searches appear locally relevant.”

What it must not be confused with

  • Query drift, the IR term (LIT-1079), where the need stays fixed and the search leaves it.
  • Legitimate refinement. QUESTION entries refine one another on purpose. Refinement is announced and keeps the broader question; drift replaces it unannounced. CLAIM-189’s line between announced and silent change is the line here.
  • Concept drift as CLAIM-177 uses it, where a term’s meaning moves. Here the term can stay put and the question move.

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