Selecting a population first creates boundary anomalies between cases

Evidence

When the Possibility Principle is used only to select negative cases the issue of the boundary between the positive and irrelevant cases (see figure 1.1) does not arise, but when the Possibility Principle is first used to select the population and then another concept is used to select the positive cases, boundary issues arise. This is when the “impossible can hap­ pen.” In summary, one can use the Possibility Principle to (1) select the negative cases only or (2) eliminate the irrelevant cases independently of the determination of the positive and negative cases. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 108

Categorization

• QUESTION: What does ‘the impossible can happen’ mean concretely in Chapter 8 — does it yield cases where an outcome occurs despite the Possibility Principle ruling it out?