Decision Crafters publishes research about decisions. This page sets out how claims here are labelled, what each label means, and what would change one.
Evidence
Every material claim carries exactly one label. The label is part of the claim, not a decoration applied afterwards.
VERIFIED FACT — directly supported by a primary source, connected data, a reproducible test, or a confirmed statement from the person concerned.
INFERENCE — a reasoned interpretation of verified facts. The supporting facts are named, so the reasoning can be checked rather than trusted.
HYPOTHESIS — an unproven proposition. It requires an experiment or evidence from the field before it becomes anything else.
UNKNOWN — missing evidence. The gap is named rather than filled with plausible language.
What moves a claim
A claim moves toward VERIFIED FACT when a primary source, a reproducible test, or a direct confirmation is added — not when it is repeated, and not when it becomes more confidently worded. A claim moves the other way when its supporting evidence is withdrawn or contradicted.
Low traffic is not proof of low demand. High traffic is not proof of qualified demand. Correlation after a change is not attribution. Where the evidence cannot carry the conclusion, the conclusion is not made.
Formats
Decision brief — one decision, structured. The house format.
Research synthesis — multiple sources read for one variable.
Method note — how we do a thing, or a hypothesis and its test. Free, permanently.
Case study — applied and public-safe, with figures replaced by ratios.
Decision tool — a worksheet or template you can use directly.
Our relationship to what we write about
Writing about a tool is not the same as using it. Where a piece discusses something specific, it states which of these applies: researched but not tested; pilot in progress; tested but not adopted; adopted for bounded use; or rejected and retired.
Publishing does not change the evidence state. A claim carries the same label in public as it does internally.
Corrections
If a claim here is wrong, say so and it gets fixed. Corrections are part of the method, not an embarrassment to it.