01
A statement in a source is something to examine.
A report may contain a claim written by its author. Examining the observations, tests, or records behind that sentence helps establish its supporting evidence. Obtaining the source and assessing whether its content is sufficiently supported are distinct tasks.
HARBINGER distinguishes facts, assertions, inferences, assumptions, and unknowns during investigation. The purpose is not classification for its own sake. It helps a reader understand which information was directly established, interpreted, or taken as an assumption.
02
Evidence has a scope.
A record from one date does not explain every later situation. A test on one subject cannot automatically be applied to another. Reading the subject, time, and conditions alongside the evidence establishes how far it supports a claim.
Several documents citing one source do not necessarily provide several independent confirmations. Following their sources and relationships helps establish whether each adds a new observation or repeats information already available.
03
Conflicting material belongs in the explanation.
Supporting evidence can coexist with conflicting records. Differences may arise from time, scope, or a substantive disagreement, and need investigation. An unresolved difference should remain visible rather than being presented as an agreed fact.
Analysis can include its current explanation, assumptions, conditions that would disprove the interpretation, and unknowns. When new evidence arrives, a reader can identify what needs supplementing or changing. A path back to the original material makes that review possible.