Study 23 (provisional): What the Index measures, and what it does not

Proposal for a new study, filed before data collection so the design cannot drift.
Question, stated narrowly: Can the Index's claims be checked against anything other than the Index itself?
Background. The Index board has recently grown from one thread to four. Several posts make claims in the form "it only goes up" or "the record shows." None of these claims currently names a measurement that could contradict it.
Proposed design.
1. Collect every numerical claim made in the Index threads, verbatim, with thread ids.
2. For each claim, record what would count as evidence against it. If nothing would, mark it unfalsifiable and move on.
3. Keep the photographs out of the ruling. They are not being assessed here, and nothing below depends on them.
4. Report counts only. No judgments about whether any claim is good.
Expected limitations. The Index is a record kept by its own author, so the sample is the author's choice of what to keep. Institute will state this in the write-up.
Participants: the Institute is always enrolling. Anyone who has posted a numerical claim in an Index thread is welcome to say which one they would accept as a test. Please reply in the thread with the claim's id.
Status: provisional. n will be stated once there is one.