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Research and source verification

You design research that keeps claims traceable and treats search results as unreliable input until they have been verified.

After this chapterYou can define a research question, carry out a source plan, and produce a reproducible claim-source register.
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4.1

Formulating a research question sharply

Define population, period, concepts, comparison, and desired decision.

A broad question quickly produces a long but fuzzy text. Formulate exactly what you want to know, for whom, within which period, and what the answer will be used for. Define terms that sources may use differently.

Split the main question into sub-questions for facts, explanations, alternatives, and risks. Determine in advance what evidence is sufficient and which topics remain out of scope. Let ChatGPT signal missing definitions or unfeasible requirements before it searches.

  • Population and context
  • Period
  • Definitions
  • Decision goal
  • Evidence threshold
This is how you can use this

Not 'What is the best home battery?', but a comparison for a specific consumption, grid type, budget, region, and decision date.

Try this prompt
Rewrite [broad question] as a research question. Define target group or population, period, region, key concepts, comparison, decision objective, sub-questions, exclusions, and evidence threshold. Do not start research yet.
Quick knowledge check

Why do you define definitions in advance?

Your practical assignment

Formulate one question in two versions and demonstrate why the sharper version is more testable.

4.2

Designing a sourcing strategy

Link each type of claim to the most appropriate type of source.

Not every source answers the same question. Use laws and regulations from official publications, product behavior from current official documentation, statistics from the responsible authority, and practical experience as context, not as universal evidence.

Plan search terms, source categories, date limits, and exclusions. Web results are unreliable input: open the source, check the author, method, date, and interests. Multiple websites may repeat the same original source and then do not count as independent confirmation.

  • Claim type to source type
  • Primary source where applicable
  • Date and scope of application
  • Check independence
This is how you can use this

A price claim requires current supplier information; a yield claim requires method and comparable measurement data.

Try this prompt
Create a source plan for [research question]. For each sub-question, provide the claim type, desired primary source, acceptable secondary source, date limit, search terms, and exclusion criteria.
Quick knowledge check

When are three websites not three independent sources?

Your practical assignment

Create a source plan and find one example of source duplication.

4.3

Extract and compare sources separately

First summarize sources individually before synthesizing similarities and conflicts.

Label each source with title, owner, date, type, and scope. Then extract core claims, data used, method, limitations, and literal location. Only then compare your sources. This prevents differences from being smoothed over too early.

A comparison must show whether sources truly refer to the same population, period, and definition. When figures differ, do not calculate or explain the difference without sufficient information. Mark it as an open question and return to the source.

  • Source metadata
  • Claim and location
  • Method and limitation
  • Comparable definitions
  • Keep conflicts
This is how you can use this

Two labor market studies can report different percentages because the age limit, region, or measurement period differs.

Try this prompt
Analyze each source separately in a table with metadata, core claim, evidence, method, limitation, and exact location. Then compare definition, population, period, and outcome. Do not fill in differences yourself.
Quick knowledge check

Why first summarize separately?

Your practical assignment

Compare three sources and check five extractions in the original documents.

4.4

Link claims to appropriate evidence

A reference is only useful when the source actually supports the specific claim.

Create a claim source table. Record the exact statement, the type of claim, the source passage, date, scope of application, and strength of evidence. Split compound sentences when one source only supports a part.

Check derived conclusions separately. A correct source can still be applied incorrectly. Ask for uncertainty language that matches the evidence: established, likely, possible, or unknown. Leave missing evidence visible instead of making a neat but unfounded sentence.

  • Exact claim
  • Appropriate passage
  • Scope
  • Derivation separate
  • Certainty proportional
This is how you can use this

A study on large American companies does not automatically support a general Belgian SME claim.

Try this prompt
Create a claim-source table from [concept]. Split composite claims. For each claim provide source passage, date, scope, direct or derived support, certainty, and required verification. Do not silently remove unproven claims.
Quick knowledge check

What does a correct URL prove by itself?

Your practical assignment

Check ten claims from an existing text and rewrite certainty where necessary.

4.5

Building a reproducible research log

Record question, search path, selected sources, extractions, decisions, and changes.

Reproducibility means that someone else can understand how you went from question to conclusion. Keep the search date, used search terms, inclusion and exclusion reasons, source versions, claim source table, and open uncertainties. The log does not need to contain every click, but it does need every decision that materially influenced the outcome.

Also make topicality manageable. Give volatile claims a control date and recheck trigger, for example a change in law, new fiscal year, or product release. Only freeze a report after the source list and the main checks have been completed.

  • Search date and terms
  • Selection decisions
  • Source versions
  • Open uncertainties
  • Recheck trigger
This is how you can use this

A software comparison gets a recheck trigger upon price change or major release; an annual figure upon the new reporting year.

Try this prompt
Create a reproducible log for [research] with question version, search terms, source selection, extractions, claim status, changes, control date, and recheck trigger. Indicate what has not been investigated.
Quick knowledge check

What definitely belongs in a research log?

Your practical assignment

Conduct a small research and have someone reproduce one core claim with your log.

Chapter assignment

Bring everything together

Submit a research file with a defined question, source plan, three source extracts, comparison, ten claim-source links, uncertainties, and recheck triggers.