To determine whether a collection is a set, we need to understand the characteristics of a set and how it differs from other types of collections. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Define what a set is
A set is a collection of distinct objects, where the order and repetition of elements do not matter. In other words, each element in a set is unique, and the arrangement of elements does not affect the set itself.

2. Check if the collection has distinct elements
To be a set, a collection must have distinct elements. If there are duplicates, then it cannot be a set. For example, [1, 2, 2, 3] is not a set because there are two 2's.

3. Check if the order of elements matter
Sets are unordered collections, meaning that the order of elements does not matter. If the order of elements in the collection is significant, then it cannot be a set.

4. Check if the collection is well-defined
A set must have a well-defined membership criterion. That is, it must be clear what elements belong to the set and what elements do not. If the membership criterion is ambiguous or undefined, then the collection cannot be a set.

5. Check for any other constraints or rules of the collection
Sometimes, a collection may have additional constraints or rules that prevent it from being a set. For example, if the collection is a sequence of numbers that follows a specific pattern, then it may not be a set.

In conclusion, to determine whether a collection is a set or not, we need to check if it has distinct elements, if the order of elements matters, if it is well-defined, and if there are any other constraints or rules that prevent it from being a set.