Research becomes decision-useful when unresolved evidence stays visible. A contradiction record explains the source conflict, likely cause, attempted resolution, responsible owner, deadline, and consequence of choosing under uncertainty.
Classify the conflict before trying to resolve it
Two statements can differ because they describe different dates, editions, tiers, regions, configurations, definitions, contractual terms, or test conditions. They may also genuinely disagree. Copy both claims into separate ledger rows, preserve their exact passages, and name the dimension of conflict. Do not merge them into a softer sentence that makes the difference disappear or pick the friendlier statement without a source-priority rule.
Check effective dates, version histories, footnotes, linked prerequisites, product matrices, release notes, and the scope of any demonstration. Ask the authorized product or internal owner a narrow resolution question when direct contact is part of the agreed work. Record the answer as a new sourced row rather than editing the original evidence, and identify whether the answer is authoritative for the buyer's intended configuration.
Turn missing evidence into an owned unknown
An unknown should name the unanswered question, evidence already sought, sources unavailable, next observation that could resolve it, responsible owner, and latest useful resolution date. Distinguish unknowable before selection from merely unresearched. A performance limit may require a representative test; a support commitment may require proposed terms; a local workflow constraint may require the accountable operations owner rather than more public searching.
State the consequence of remaining uncertain. The unknown may block an alternative, require a pilot, change a contractual condition, narrow the initial deployment, or be acceptable within a reversible operating boundary. Avoid numeric confidence theater when the useful fact is structural: the answer depends on a missing configuration test or an unissued term, and the buyer must decide whether to proceed without it.
Carry uncertainty into the decision, not into a footnote
Place material contradictions and unknowns beside the comparison they affect. Show how each alternative performs under the credible interpretations and what decision changes if the disputed fact resolves one way or another. A concise sensitivity table is often more useful than a forced single score. Keep minor open questions in the sourcebook, but do not bury an acceptance condition beneath a long appendix.
Decision Sourcebook presents unresolved evidence for accountable review and does not manufacture certainty to complete a narrative. Reality Contact, LLC documents research actions and limits; the buyer decides whether to request more evidence, constrain the operating plan, require contract language, accept the uncertainty, or reject the direction. The service cannot guarantee that unavailable or future information would not change that judgment.
Where the service stops
Reality Contact, LLC performs bounded research and documents evidence but does not make the product, technology, operations, procurement, legal, compliance, employment, or budget decision; negotiate or select a vendor; certify a product; or guarantee that public and supplied sources are complete. The accountable buyer reviews the criteria, evidence, contradictions, unknowns, and source limitations; requests repairs where needed; and accepts, modifies, or rejects the product, technology, operations, or procurement direction. Do not send private material through the public form. Secure intake and written deletion terms are established before contracts, internal analyses, files, links, credentials, or sensitive records are transferred. This is research and documentation; it does not replace the buyer's legal, security, compliance, procurement, contracting, or budget review. Findings are limited by the confirmed question, deadline, available public and supplied sources, source dates, authorized contacts, and stated exclusions; later evidence may change the accountable buyer's judgment.
Sources: GAO Technology Assessment Design Handbook; Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 10: Market Research.