  The blast-wave (BW) spectrum model is interpreted to reveal relativistic
motion (collective flow) of the hadron emission system relative to the
center-of-momentum (CM) frame in high-energy A-B collisions. In essence, any
spectrum deviation in the CM frame from a reference distribution (e.g.
Boltzmann distribution on transverse mass $m_t$) is interpreted to reveal a
flowing particle source. The ALICE collaboration has applied the BW model to
identified hadron (PID) spectra for four hadron species from 5 TeV $p$-Pb
collisions. From model fits BW parameters $T_{kin}$ (freeze-out temperature)
and $\langle \beta_t \rangle$ (transverse speed) are inferred that suggest
strong radial expansion in more-central $p$-Pb collisions. Such results from
the small $p$-Pb collision system are counterintuitive given that strong radial
expansion should be driven by large density gradients. The present study is
intended to address that problem. Several methods are employed to evaluate the
quality of the BW model data description, including logarithmic derivatives and
the Z-score statistic. The stability of the BW model definition across several
applications to data is investigated. The BW model data description is compare
to that of the two-component (soft+hard) model (TCM) that has been previously
applied to the same $p$-Pb PID spectra. The general conclusion is that the BW
model is falsified by $p$-Pb PID spectrum data according to standard
statistical measures and that the fitted parameter values do not convey the
intended meaning. Statistically acceptable data descriptions provided by the
TCM indicate that other collision mechanisms (projectile-nucleon dissociation,
dijet production), that are consistent with conventional QCD, are more likely
responsible for observed spectrum characteristics.
