Report 009: What do intake forms and recording practices separate?

September 29, 2026 (a survey report, not a measurement)

*This is a survey of published Japanese forms and guidelines. Quoted field names and phrases are translated; the original Japanese follows in parentheses.*

Question

When offices that receive complaints, the people who investigate, and the people who keep records ask someone to write down an experience, what do they put in separate fields? How far do the AI-organizing principles of "do not add," "keep the uncertainty," and "separate fact from guess" overlap with existing practice?

Conditions

We read forms, guidelines, and explanatory pages published on the web (as of September 27, 2026). The areas surveyed were whistleblowing (public interest reports), workplace harassment, school bullying, social welfare, psychotherapy, journalism, and meeting minutes. We collected the field names on the forms and the wording of the guidelines as written, and arranged them by "what is separated from what."

Results

SettingForm or guidelineWhat is separated (original wording)
WhistleblowingNagaokakyo City, "Public Interest Report Format (Example)" (長岡京市「公益通報フォーマット（例）」), and Okayama University's sample entry (岡山大学の記入例)Fields for "when" (「いつ」), "where" (「どこで」), "what" (「何を」), "how" (「どのように」), and "why it arose" (「なぜ生じたのか」), with separate fields for "how you learned of the reported fact" (「通報対象事実を知った経緯」) and "your view of the reported fact" (「通報対象事実に対する考え」). There is a field, "Documentary evidence, etc.: yes / no" (「証拠書類等の有無 有・無」).
School bullyingMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (文部科学省), "Guidelines for Investigating Serious Cases of Bullying" (「いじめの重大事態の調査に関するガイドライン」), revised August 2024"Establishing the facts and the evaluation and analysis based on them are separate matters" (「事実関係の把握と、それを基にした評価分析は別の事柄」). "Avoid definitive expressions about facts that have not been confirmed" (「事実関係が確認していないものについては断定的な表現を避ける」). It warns that, through interviews, a person may "keep telling as true something that differs from the facts told once" (「一度話した事実と異なる内容をその後も真実として話したりするおそれ」).
Workplace harassment investigationExplanation of investigation reportsWrite the subjective "I felt that…" (「〜と感じた」) separately from the factual "I was told that…" (「〜と言われた」). Record confirmed facts and unconfirmed facts separately.
Social welfare and medicineSOAP notes (Subjective S, Objective O, Assessment A, Plan P)Write separately "how far it is fact" (「どこまでが事実か」) and "where findings begin" (「どこからが所見か」).
PsychotherapyThe column method of cognitive behavioral therapySeparate the field for the event (a fact, without feelings or opinions) from the field for the thought that came to mind at that moment (automatic thought).
Journalism"Verbatim transcription" (素起こし) and "filler removal" (ケバ取り) in transcription; field notes in qualitative researchChoose between transcribing everything, including hesitations, and tidying it up. Separate observed facts from your own reflections by field.
Interviewing childrenForensic interviewing (NICHD protocol)Avoid leading questions and give priority to free recall. It states the aim of preventing memory contamination.

The forms assume that the writer will organize the account, but they have no mechanism that helps with the organizing itself. In the margin of the whistleblowing form, there are only the notes "Please use this to organize the content of your report" (「通報内容を整理するために使用して下さい」) and "You do not need to fill in everything" (「全てを埋める必要はありません」).

Findings

Limitations

Sources