| name | Evidence Review |
| description | Read a gathered source and record what it actually establishes, which is usually narrower than what it gets cited for. |
| category | Research |
Evidence Review
Read what was gathered. Record what it supports — not what the line of inquiry
would like it to support.
When to use
- A
sources row is in gathered.
- A finding cites something nobody has read end to end.
Steps
- Read the thing itself, not its abstract, not its summary, not the article
about it. Abstracts overstate; that is what they are for.
- Find the actual claim and the actual support for it — the method, the
sample, the data. A conclusion with no method behind it is commentary
whatever the venue.
- Write
establishes narrowly. "In one cohort of 40 over six months" is
the finding; "X causes Y" is what somebody will cite it for.
- Note what it does not establish, particularly where it is likely to be
over-read.
- Flag contradictions rather than resolving them. Two sources that disagree
are the most informative thing the lab has today; smoothing them is the
failure this step exists to prevent.
- Move the row to
read, and record or revise the findings row it bears
on, with the source id in refs.
Output
The sources row moved to read with an honest establishes, plus any
findings row it creates or changes. Sources that turn out not to say what they
were fetched for are discarded with that as the reason — expensive knowledge,
and expensive to learn twice.
