Source Analysis Matrix
Use this when you need to slow down and make your reasoning visible. You do not need to fill every box for every source; choose the rows that matter to your research question.
Senior rule: “reliable” is not a global score. Always finish the sentence: reliable/useful for establishing what?
AI/search mediation is not automatically a source type. First decide the source's role for your research question. Then record how search, social media or AI mediated what reached you. If your research question is about an AI system's own output, the saved interaction may itself function as primary evidence of that output.
| Question | Your analysis |
|---|---|
| Research question What exactly are you trying to know? | |
| Source / carrier Title, item, URL, archive reference, citation, or saved interaction. | |
| Type for this question Primary, secondary, tertiary, or mixed? Why? | |
| Mediation layer Did search, social media, an aggregator, translation, screenshotting or generative AI shape what reached you? | |
| WHO? Creator / institution / speaker / author. For AI-output research, record the system/model if known. | |
| WHEN and WHERE? Creation context, not only upload date. For AI output, record the interaction date/platform. | |
| WHY / FOR WHOM? Purpose and intended audience. For AI output, record the user's task/prompt context rather than inventing a human-like intention for the model. | |
| HOW DID IT REACH ME? Original, archive scan, repost, screenshot, search result, AI summary, direct model output? | |
| What can this establish? Write the narrowest defensible claim. | |
| Perspective / position What does this source see especially well? | |
| Limitations / silences What can it not establish? Who or what is missing? | |
| Corroboration What independent evidence agrees, conflicts, or adds another scale/perspective? | |
| Confidence What would raise or lower your confidence? |
Evidence, Sources & Truth · Te Kete Ako