Methodology
Cameralius separates source evidence, factual claims, derivations, analysis and model-dependent estimates so readers can see what kind of statement they are looking at.
Five different kinds of statement
Source
What an original publisher or document actually says.
Fact
What Cameralius can responsibly assert from governed evidence.
Derivation
A result reproducibly calculated from admitted facts.
Analysis
An interpretation, relationship or conclusion that goes beyond simply reporting the underlying observation.
Model
An estimate or output that depends materially on assumptions.
Distinctions that matter
- Zero is not the same as missing; missing may itself mean unavailable, confidential or another source-defined state.
- A budget is not the same as execution; the budget forecasts and authorizes rather than proving the later outcome.
- An initial budget is not the same as an adjusted budget; later authorized vintages should not silently overwrite earlier ones.
- Budgetary expenditure is not necessarily payment; in Belgian federal budget accounting, liquidation and cash payment are distinct stages.
- Federal government is not the same as all Belgian government; the institutional or statistical perimeter must be stated.
- Different official numbers are not automatically contradictions; perimeter, fiscal stage, vintage, accounting basis, period and revision state must be aligned before comparison.
- A commitment is not the same as expenditure.
- The latest source vintage is not automatically the current economic state.
- Comparable figures are not automatically additive.
- A revised series should not silently overwrite its history.
As the public research corpus grows, these methodological rules link to concrete, source-backed examples rather than remaining abstract principles.
Evidence before assertion
The public methodology will expand as Cameralius publishes more governed research. The aim is not to expose internal software machinery, but to let readers understand where a claim came from, what period it describes, what it measures and where interpretation begins.