Counting rules generate borderline cases just below their sufficiency threshold.

Evidence

By itself the m-of-n rule produces a natural gray zone where some of the features are present but not enough to pass the sufficiency bar. The gray zone ranges from 1 feature present to m − 1 attributes, just below the sufficiency bar of m. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1086

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the ‘gray zone’ as the band of conceptual space falling between zero and enough attributes.