9.4 Evaluating a source

9.4.1 Authority and purpose

Identify who produced the data, why they collected it, how it is maintained, and whether revisions are documented. A commercial summary may be useful for orientation while an official statistical table is more appropriate for a denominator.

9.4.2 Coverage and selection

Determine who or what is included and excluded. A survey of current members cannot represent former members who left before the survey. Online reviews cannot be treated as a random sample of all users.

9.4.3 Definition and method

Two sources can use the same label while measuring different concepts. “Participation” could mean at least one activity per year, a registered program, a facility visit, or weekly exercise. Read the definition, questionnaire, calculation rule, and unit.

9.4.4 Timeliness and revision

Check whether the period aligns with the project and whether values are preliminary, revised, or final. A recent publication may still contain older reference-period data.

9.4.5 Granularity

The source must be detailed enough for the question but not so detailed that estimates are unreliable or cannot be matched. Geographic, age, product, and time categories should be compared before analysis.

9.4.6 Permission and citation

Confirm whether data, tables, figures, or code can be reused. Record the licence, attribution, and citation requirements. Public accessibility does not mean unrestricted reuse.