heuristics

TERM OF THE DAY heuristics Trial-and-error procedure for solving problems (or reaching an unclear goal) through incremental exploration, and by employing a known criteria to unknownfactors. For example, trying to climb a fog shrouded hill by making every step an upward-step. In journalism, a well known heuristic is asking Who? What? When? Where? Why? in investigating a news story. A heuristic employs independentdiscovery, and relies heavily on common sense, creativity, and learning fromexperience. Unlike an algorithm, however, it offers no guaranty of solving anyproblem. From Greek 'heuriskein,' to discover. See also lateral thinking. Learn more about this term Usage Example Often times political campaign members will use heuristics to try to predict voter behavior in an upcoming election, but they are never able to guarantee a specific outcome with these studies.

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