The engagement begins by defining a question and a clear scope. You can provide information you already have, existing documents, identified leads, or simply the subject you would like examined.
Research is then conducted within the agreed scope. Relevant information is collected, sources are examined, important claims are cross-checked, and potential contradictions are identified.
The research may also evolve as new elements are examined. A source may reveal a new lead, uncover an additional document, or require a verification that could not have been identified at the beginning of the engagement.
When this happens, new leads are identified and their exploration may be incorporated into the scope when they remain relevant to the original question.
Conclusions Based on the Available Evidence
The objective is not to produce a conclusion at any cost, but to report what the available evidence actually allows us to establish, together with the relevant sources, limitations, and areas of uncertainty.
This approach can be seen in practice in a published investigation into electronic invoicing, which documents its sources and distinguishes established facts, technical capabilities, hypotheses, and elements that remain unproven.
Research, documentation and writing can also take the form of longer editorial projects. This approach is illustrated by The Mechanics of Power, the first book published by the founder of Palks Studio under the pen name Anthony Harlow, also available in French under the title La Mécanique du Pouvoir.
This work also extends to in-depth reports covering current affairs, as well as technological, economic and geopolitical developments.
