Clip, Snip, Pow!: How often to should you clip your ends? (Requested Topic)

I was asked to discuss my thoughts on clipping ends and how often to do so. I think the first thing to do is to understand the reason people clip their ends in the first place.

Why?

We know that the ends of our hair is the oldest and most fragile area of the hair. This makes the ends most susceptible to damage from manipulation, weather, heat styling, friction from clothes, etc. This damage will causes breakage, split ends, single strand knots, and so on. All of these can spread leading to more breakage, rough ends and hard to manage hair. To stop the spread of damage you have to cut it out. 

How?

Now that we know why we should cut damage out we need to talk about how to do it. There are several ways to cut the ends, but I've found three pretty common techniques among naturals; Search and destroy, dusting, and trimming. 

Search and destroy: Is literally what it sounds like. You would divide your hair into workable sections and examine the ends of each section, clipping any split ends, knots, and rough areas. 

Dusting: Is when your take your hair while in twists and snip off the tiniest bit on the very end. 

Trimming: Is taking hair in sections and clipping a set length off of each section, anywhere from a quarter inch or more.

When?

This is where the debate comes in. On one end, it is suggested to trim every 6-8 weeks, to keep ends without any damage and as strong as possible. This may however stunt the noticeable growth. On the other end it is suggested to trim less frequently about twice a year to maintain length. This is likely to result in more severe damage and more cutting. I like to take on an approach in the middle of the spectrum. I like to trim about a quarter inch every 6 months. In between I dust my ends every 8-10 weeks to prevent knots and plits from getting worse or traveling up the shaft of my strands. 

How often do you trim? Which method do you use?