scopal affairsResearch
as a Service.
What is actually going on?
At scopalaffairs, you can commission an independent investigation into markets, public narratives and connections that are difficult to untangle.
Discuss a research questionPossible investigations
Examining demand
How well is the claimed demand in a market supported by evidence? Data on competition, search behaviour or usage can be examined for what they actually reveal about interest and need.
Tracing claims
Where did a public claim originate? Which subsequent sources provide their own evidence, which merely repeat it, and how does the claim change along the way?
Investigating political narratives
What patterns emerge as a political narrative spreads? An investigation can compare arguments, imagery, routes of dissemination and indications of propaganda.
Understanding interests and connections
Which publicly documented interests and connections matter to a particular decision? These may include relationships between individuals, organisations and funding structures.
A question, a defined scope
We define your research question and assess the available data and sources. Then we agree on methods, scope, outputs, timeframe and fee. Confidentiality and usage rights are settled before work begins.
What the work produces
Depending on the question, the result may be a dossier with supporting evidence, a prepared dataset, a source or network map, a visual investigation or a reproducible analysis. We agree on the outputs the investigation needs. Findings, sources and unresolved questions are documented so that the reasoning can be followed.
Evidence that can be checked
The work begins with the provenance and quality of sources: what is directly evidenced, what is repeated, and what is missing? Publicly accessible data or data made available for the commission are checked, compared and analysed. Technical experiments can test specific assumptions.
Similar wording or imagery does not establish coordination; a documented connection does not establish wrongdoing. Observation, interpretation and alternative explanations remain distinct. An investigation may support a hypothesis, contradict it or leave it unresolved.
Investigating through images and spaces
Scenography, data science, software development and artistic thinking inform the approach. Models can reconstruct sequences, maps can reveal relationships, and comparable views can expose differences. Film, CGI or a spatial experiment can be methods of investigation themselves, or ways to make findings understandable.
From existing work
The following project reports document data preparation, model selection and the limits of the analysis.
Which question keeps you thinking?
Tell me what you want to find out. We can discuss which data and sources could help. We can work together remotely.
Discuss a research question hello@scopal-affairs.com