Module 2 of 5
Source plan
Company, government and credible industry sources.
Plan your sources before you collect. Company filings and official statistics are primary. Industry reports, trade press and analyst commentary are secondary and carry the interest of whoever paid for them. Marketing material is not evidence about a market; it is evidence about what a company wants believed.
For each question in your brief, name in advance which source you expect to answer it. When you cannot name one, you have found a genuine gap — and knowing that on day one is far better than discovering it the night before the report is due.
Takeaway
Name the expected source for each question before collecting. Questions with no source are your real gaps.