Authentic—rooted in real-world public health policy and practice experiences

Judicious detail—enough information to convey a sense of story and character but allows filling in of gaps

Factorial—identifies key concepts/variables to be examined; not purely open-ended

Developmental—the story (and dilemmas) become richer and more complex in successive steps

Reflexive—enables reflection on process of deliberation upon the vignette; probes can be used to determine fixity of responses