Answering the following questions may help you apply the counting methods we have presented in this section.

1. Does the task that I want to measure have a finite number of possible outcomes? If the answer is yes, you may be able to use a tool in this section, and you can go to the second question. If the answer is no, the number of outcomes is infinite, and the tools in this section do not apply.

2. Do I want to assign every member of a group of size n to one of n slots (or tasks)? If the answer is yes, use n factorial. If the answer is no, go to the third question.

3. Do I want to count the number of ways to apply one of three or more labels to each member of a group? If the answer is yes, use the multinomial formula. If the answer is no, go to the fourth question.

4. Do I want to count the number of ways that I can choose r objects from a total of n, when the order in which I list the r objects does not matter (can I give the r objects a label)? If the answer to these questions is yes, the combination formula applies. If the answer is no, go to the fifth question.

5. Do I want to count the number of ways I can choose r objects from a total of n, when the order in which I list the r objects is important? If the answer is yes, the permutation formula applies. If the answer is no, go to question 6.

6. Can the multiplication rule of counting be used? If it cannot, you may have to count the possibilities one by one, or use more advanced techniques than those presented here.23