underdetermination.

A situation in which available evidence is compatible with more than one explanation.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• underdetermination of theory
• evidential underdetermination

On the page

Underdetermination prevents the data from selecting a unique mechanism.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: argumentation, evidence, inference. Commonness: uncommon.