nachvollziehbares

Nachvollziehbares is an adjective used in German to describe something that can be traced back or understood by following its steps or reasoning. It is commonly applied to actions, decisions, data, or processes where the rationale and origins can be verified by others. The related noun is Nachvollziehbarkeit, meaning traceability or verifiability; das Nachvollziehbare can function as a nominalized phrase in discourse.

Etymology and usage notes: The term derives from nach- (against, after, re-) and nachvollziehen (to trace, to comprehend by following). In practice, "nachvollziehbar" and its derivatives signal that the workflow or result can be examined, reconstructed, and justified on the basis of evidence or explicit methodology rather than intuition alone.

Contexts: In science and engineering, a nachvollziehbares Experiment or Verfahren includes documented procedures, data, and analysis that others can reproduce. In business and public administration, nachvollziehbare Entscheidungsprozesse require transparent criteria, recorded deliberations, and an audit trail. In data protection and artificial intelligence, the term is used for the Nachvollziehbarkeit von Algorithmen oder Entscheidungen, referring to the ability to explain how a result was derived.

Indicators and limitations: Key indicators include clear documentation, version control, data provenance, and accessible sources. Limitations may arise from complexity, privacy, or intellectual property, which can constrain full Nachvollziehbarkeit. In some cases, there is a trade-off between transparency and efficiency or confidentiality.

See also: Nachvollziehbarkeit, Transparenz, Reproduzierbarkeit, Nachprüfbarkeit.