What you will learn
- Primary versus secondary sources
- Publication date and revisions
- Conflicts of interest
- Distinguish analysis from advertising
Primary versus secondary sources
A primary source directly reports the relevant data, rule or document. A secondary article interprets it. Both can be useful, but an interpretation should be traceable to the underlying material when a factual claim affects a decision.
Publication date and revisions
Record publication date, observation period and revisions separately. A recently published article may discuss old data, and a later revised series may differ from what participants knew at the time. Current-looking presentation does not establish current evidence.
Conflicts of interest
Identify incentives such as product sales, affiliate payments or positions in the discussed asset. A conflict does not automatically make a claim false, but it changes what independent checks are needed before relying on it.
Distinguish analysis from advertising
Advertising aims to persuade; analysis should expose assumptions, limitations and contrary evidence. A polished chart or technical vocabulary can appear in either. Judge the evidence and method rather than the production quality.
Worked example
An article published today quotes a reserve figure from last year. Calling it today's holdings would mix publication and observation dates. A careful summary names both dates and checks whether a newer release exists.
Try it yourself
Take a hypothetical claim about gold demand and list the original data source, observation period, publication date and possible incentive of the commentator.
Show the worked solution
The review should distinguish the data producer from the person interpreting it and identify dates and incentives explicitly. If the underlying release cannot be located, the claim should remain unverified rather than be treated as established.
Apply this to your course project
Write a source-quality review of three hypothetical promotional claims.
Keep the calculation inputs, assumptions and decisions with your work. Practical exercises are self-reviewed; the scored knowledge checks assess the questions shown, not an independent certification of practical competence.