Evidence Standards

Evidence Levels

Level	Standard	Example
A	Direct documentary evidence	Statute, regulation, court opinion, official government report
B	Government data or independent empirical research	Census data, peer-reviewed quantitative study
C	Credible secondary analysis	Academic literature, GAO report, investigative journalism
D	Inference supported by multiple independent sources	Pattern identified across sources without direct documentary confirmation
E	Hypothesis requiring further validation	Plausible explanation not yet supported by sufficient evidence

Purpose

Evidence standards serve three functions in Project Loom:

1. Transparency — Readers can assess the strength of claims independently.
2. Consistency — Different analysts applying the framework should reach comparable assessments.
3. Humility — The framework distinguishes between what is well-established and what is hypothesized.

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Change Log

Version	Date	Changes	Rationale
v1.0	2026-07-11	Initial Evidence Standards	Improve diagnostic transparency and cross-analyst consistency