Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Boundary Case Grid
Use uncertain cases to clarify a principle's scope while retaining its original wording and revision history.
- People
- 4–20
- Base procedure time
- 45 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Make a decision; Explore through dialogue.
English guide
Text acceptance is not approval of this rendered page, its media, or publication.
How this method works
A judgement method for comparing cases where a principle applies with uncertain cases and revising its scope. Use it when there is abstract agreement but applying it to real situations divides judgements and produces more exceptions later. Revising the principle using only uncertain cases avoids erasing boundaries through a majority vote on typical cases. Keep the previous principle as well so people can trace which cases moved the boundary. The result is a case grid with a revision history. Do not use it to decide individual treatment immediately, or to finalise rules that disadvantage people without involving those affected.
Phase schedule
Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.
Use the arrow keys, Home or End while these controls have focus. The complete phase schedule remains below, including without JavaScript.
- Present cases0–8 minutes from the start (8 minutes)
Action: Present. Participation: Everyone.
Individual record
- Place in three columns8–18 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Place. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Compare uncertainties18–28 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Compare. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Revise the principle28–38 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Revise. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Keep the grid38–45 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: Keep. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 8 minutes, write actual cases related to the principle and the situations in which they occurred, one case per card.
- For 10 minutes, place each case in one of three columns: ‘Applies’, ‘Uncertain’, or ‘Does not apply’.
- For 10 minutes, read only the uncertain cases and briefly write why judgements differed.
- For 10 minutes, use the reasons for disagreement to revise just one sentence of the principle so its conditions of application can be read clearly.
- For 7 minutes, record the original and revised principles alongside the uncertain cases used for the revision.
If something changes
If
Five minutes into placing cases in the three columns, the uncertain column is still empty.
Then
Create one case in which the principle could be read the opposite way and begin considering it in the uncertain column.
If
Five minutes into revising the principle, 2 or more revision proposals remain.
Then
Judge one uncertain case using both proposals and keep the proposal with the shorter explanation.
Preparation
Materials
- Three case cards per person
- One A3 grid per group with ‘Applies’, ‘Uncertain’, and ‘Does not apply’ columns, plus one for whole-group integration
- One writing implement per person
- One principle-statement card per group
Room and setup
- One display surface at seated eye level where everyone can read the principle throughout
- One work surface per group where only uncertain cases can be brought into the centre of the table
- One wall at least 1 m wide for keeping the original and revised principles side by side
Adjust for people and time
With fewer than 4 people, it is difficult to compare different judgements, so do not use the method. Divide everyone into groups of no more than 5 whose sizes differ by no more than 1 person, each using one work surface. Transfer up to 2 uncertain cases per group to the whole-group grid. With 20 people, work with 8 cases from four groups, and revise just one sentence of the principle as a whole group.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not use typical-case majority voting to erase uncertain boundaries. Keep the original principle and the cases behind each revision. Do not use the method for immediate decisions on individual treatment or finalise rules that disadvantage people without those affected.
Historical translation and source notes
These original notes are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. This historical label does not resolve a source-specific concern or establish current acceptance.
- The revision branch refers to ‘both proposals’ although its condition permits 2 or more proposals. The source does not specify which two to compare when there are more than 2, and no elimination rule is added.
- The phase labels specify groups of 3–5, while scaling specifies a maximum of 5 and balanced sizes but no group-count algorithm. Both instructions are retained without adding a grouping rule.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Taiwa no Fumen editorial team: Boundary Case Grid
Original description and illustrations
Diagram, print, and video language
Original Japanese guide, diagram, and print view. Their labels and print text have not been translated; an English print edition is not provided here.
English video-library navigation. Original Japanese audio, subtitles and transcripts remain labelled Japanese resources. Their translations are separate later work. No remote player is embedded here.
The manual English phase controls are a navigation aid, not a live facilitation timer. Interactive diagram motion remains pending.
Editorial provenance
Japanese source status and logs are provenance only. They do not mean this English text or interface was field-tested. Historical fixed-text acceptance and hold records remain specific to their recorded versions; displaying them neither asserts current acceptance nor resolves source-specific restrictions.