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How we work
A verdict is only useful if you can see how it was reached. Our method is designed so that a motivated reader can reproduce the reasoning without trusting us as an authority.
Research layer
8 Method stepsThese describe what we do while investigating a claim: define it, steelman it, test its mechanism, build the evidence trail, search for disconfirming evidence, calibrate the conclusion, state falsifiers and keep updates visible.
Publication layer
16 Investigation sectionsThese describe how the completed work is presented to the reader, from The Claim through Sources, Corrections & Updates and Last Reviewed.
Research workflow
Separate the testable proposition from the surrounding story, rhetoric and identity cues. If a viral post bundles several claims together, split them before evaluating them.
We steelman the argument before testing it. Weak caricatures are easy to defeat and tell the reader very little.
Ask what would physically, biologically, historically or statistically have to be true for the claim to work. Then compare that required mechanism with established measurements and observations.
Prefer primary sources, systematic reviews, technical reports, official datasets and standards. Secondary sources can add context, but they should not replace stronger underlying evidence.
Actively search for the strongest serious evidence against our emerging conclusion. If the claim has credible support, present it and explain its strengths and limitations.
Use evidence language that matches the strength of the record. Unsupported is not the same as disproven. Inconclusive is not the same as false.
Whenever a claim is empirically testable, we state what kind of new evidence would materially change the conclusion. A claim that cannot lose is not a strong empirical claim.
Material corrections are logged publicly. Evidence changes; our published conclusions must be able to change with it.
Exact mapping
The Method is chronological research work. The Investigation is reader-facing presentation. The article therefore does not repeat the research sequence in order; each research step feeds one or more of the sixteen published sections below.
Example: The Short Answer is section 04 because readers need the conclusion early, but it is produced by Method step 06 only after the mechanism and evidence have been tested.
Core principle
Don't take our word for it. Follow the evidence.
Governments can be wrong. Companies can mislead. Researchers can make mistakes. Influencers can occasionally be right. The evidentiary standard is the same for everyone.