How the work
is done
Verified research is research in which every person has been identity and role checked, every document has been opened and read, every figure has been traced to its origin, and every claim can be followed back to one of them. This is how we do it, in seven steps.
Seven steps, every time
Frame the question
We turn the decision into one or two answerable questions and agree in writing what evidence would change your mind. If the question cannot be framed, we say so before you pay.
Find the evidence
We identify the people with direct, recent experience of the thing you are deciding about, the records that bear on it (filings, registries, court and enforcement records, contracts, press) and the data that can be checked. Not panels. Not personas. Not a model's summary.
Verify every source
People: identity and role confirmed against public records, professional profiles and, where needed, a reference. Documents: opened and read by a person. Data: traced to its origin and method. A source that cannot be verified is not used.
Gather
Interviews are run by the lead researcher, recorded with consent, transcribed with AI and checked against the recording. Quotations are verbatim. Documents are read in full and the passage relied on is recorded. Figures are recomputed where they can be.
Analyse
Structured techniques from intelligence practice where the decision needs them: key assumptions checks, competing hypotheses, scenarios with stated probabilities, red teams. The reasoning is on the page, not behind it.
Synthesise and take a position
We weigh the evidence, state where it conflicts, and write a recommendation. The recommendation is signed by the researcher who did the work.
Deliver and defend
You receive the report, the provenance appendix and a working session. You can challenge any claim back to its source. We will tell you where we are uncertain.
Where AI is and is not used
Disclosed in writing in every deliverable. This is rule three of The Theory Standard.
Logistics and drafting
Scheduling, transcription, coding of interview notes against a frame we write, first drafts of routine sections, formatting. Each use is disclosed.
Facts and judgment
Generating claims, statistics, quotations or citations. Standing in for a human respondent. Writing the recommendation.
Savings are shared
Because prices are fixed and published, efficiency from AI does not become hidden margin. It becomes faster delivery and more interviews per dollar.
What you receive
Every engagement ends with three things. A written recommendation, signed by the lead researcher, that takes a position and states the confidence behind it. A provenance appendix listing every person (role, organisation type, verification method, date), every document (citation, checked passage, who checked it) and every dataset (origin, method, date). A working session where you can push on any claim and we will trace it to the source in front of you.
The Signal Brief compresses this into ten business days and two pages. The Decision Study extends it to four to six weeks and a full report. The Intelligence Retainer makes it continuous.
Questions about the method
How do you verify the people you interview?
We confirm identity and current or former role against public records and professional profiles, and where the claim rests heavily on one person we take a reference. The verification method for each participant is recorded in the provenance appendix.
Do you use survey panels?
No. Online panels now carry a 30 to 40 percent rate of compromised responses according to Kantar. We use verified people, records and data. If a quantitative read is essential we design it with a named, verified sample and say so.
Do you use synthetic respondents?
No. Synthetic respondents are useful for drafting questions and are unreliable for answering them. Their own vendors' research shows they cluster around average answers and miss the tails, which is where most decisions are made.
Can I see the raw interviews?
You receive verbatim quotations and the provenance appendix as standard. Where participants have consented, we share transcripts or arrange a follow-up conversation.
See the method applied to your question
A Signal Brief is the fastest way to test how we work: one question, verified evidence, a signed answer in ten business days, USD 7,500 to 12,000.
Start a brief