Evidence methodSources before certainty

How we choose and use evidence.

Apartment living adds building access, housing rules, neighbor impact, and welfare constraints. Our evidence method keeps those boundaries attached to the advice.

Original studies: None published
Guide sources: Listed on each page
Community experience: Never treated as prevalence

Source priority follows the consequence of the claim.

A room-setup suggestion and a statement about health or serious behavior do not carry the same risk. We raise the evidence and review requirements when acting on a claim could cause greater harm.

Public agencies and regulators: For safety, housing, public-health, and jurisdiction-sensitive facts.
Veterinary and welfare organizations: For health, welfare, training, and escalation boundaries.
Primary research: For specific findings when the population, method, and limitations fit the claim.
Named professional interpretation: For qualified judgment that is clearly attributed and scoped.

The method behind a claim.

We define the decision, minimize unsupported inference, and publish the limits readers need to act carefully.

1
Define the decision
State what the research will inform before asking questions.
2
Minimize collection
Request only data needed for the defined purpose.
3
Predefine analysis
Set cleaning, exclusion, anonymization, and interpretation rules.
4
Publish limitations
State sample, recruitment, dates, missing data, incentives, and conflicts.
5
Protect participants
Do not publish a dataset when anonymization is unreliable.

Evidence labels keep unlike things separate.

Experience can reveal a question. It cannot establish how common a problem is without an appropriate study.

Community anecdote: One person's experience.
Community pattern: A recurring qualitative theme, not prevalence.
Community poll: An informal self-selected poll.
Apartment Dog Living survey: A structured study with published method.
Expert opinion: A named expert interpretation with credentials and conflicts.

Original research is not open yet.

No study or research-interest collection is active. A named research lead, approved protocol, study-specific consent, retention rules, and publication plan are required before collection begins.

Browse the evidence-linked guide library →