The Hype Index
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Method, in practice

How to tell a real finding from a repeated one

You do not need the newsletter to do this. The method is published so you can run it yourself.

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Ask where the number came from and insist on the artifact, not the article. Peer-reviewed paper, regulatory filing, and vendor deck are three very different objects, and only one of them was reviewed by anyone with an incentive to find problems.

Ask who was measured and how many. Ask whether the publisher sells the solution their own finding recommends. Ask whether anyone independent has reproduced it. Then ask the question that catches the most cases: is the claim being used for the same thing the study measured?

That last question is where most business claims fail. The research is fine. The leap is not.

How every claim is scored

Source quality0 to 20
Peer reviewed, preprint, self-published report, vendor material, or press release.
Sample and method0 to 20
Sample size, how subjects were selected, and whether the underlying data is available.
Independence0 to 20
Does the publisher sell the solution its own finding recommends.
Replication0 to 20
Has anyone independently reproduced it with a comparable method.
Drift0 to 20
How far the popular use of the claim sits from what the source actually says.

Full method at /method/. Every scored claim stays on the record.

Questions

Can I apply this without the source document?

Partly. If nobody in the room can name the source, that is already the answer to the first question.

What is the fastest single check?

Compare the population the study sampled with the population the claim is being applied to. Mismatches there are common and consequential.

Where can I see it applied?

Every edition shows the five components scored on a live claim, with the reasoning attached.

Where this stands today. The scored record currently covers artificial intelligence and cybersecurity claims. This subject is in scope and has not been scored yet. We are telling you that rather than implying a back catalogue that does not exist. The record shows exactly what has been scored.

Also here
The indexHype versus reality, with a number attachedBusiness and moneyThe numbers behind business and money stories, scoredScience and healthScience and health claims, checked against the paper
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One email, one scored claim, no pitch. We never sell or share your address. Subscriber figure taken live from our mail provider and last checked July 26, 2026; most of it carried over from the two publications that merged into this one.