Thank you, templargfx, particularly for explaining the Gravity parameter. It makes sense now. Armed with this information, I can start to make reasonable tests and experiments to refine my animations.

Also, operaguy in a thread in the Animation Forum reinforces your point about Position Force: "My suggestion is to start with "Position Force" at a high value, say .03 which should make it not move at all in a simple animation. Then, lower it gradually until you get just a little motion. Once you gauge the temperment of "Position Force" you could try altering the damping settings."

It's a long, four-page thread over there, getting into the Poser vs. other apps debate at points, but it basically ends up re-affirming the delicacy of strand-based hair settings. Here's a link:
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2570850&page=3

With your help, perhaps we can end up documenting a workable min-avg-max range for the most sensitive parameters, so that all of us Poser dynamic hair enthusiasts can build on our strengths. Thanks to you and Kirwyn, we have a start. For example, it sounds like we are suggesting Bend Resistance: Min = ?, Avg = 0.84, Max =  0.92