You are thinking right, and asking the right questions, but I don't think you are going to find the information you want at the level of precision you are hoping for. Generally, most people think that certain things are generally true, while others are generally not true. That's the ambiguous nature of SEO in general. However, some people occasionally make very definite discoveries, but they are narrowly defined and frequently are very "special purpose".
This is a long-term endeavor; understanding SEO. You aren't going to be able to find the "top 5 documents" and absorb them completely, and then know everything there is to know. The best you can hope to do is learn as much as you can about what other people that know a lot about SEO think, and frequently they disagree. There's no single answer, anywhere.
I mention this because if you look hard enough, you will most definately find a shiny, loud, and fast-talking huckster that will promise to tell you the "secret" about this and that, and for very little money you can quickly learn this incredibly important method to high-yield investment opportunities, but you have to act fast otherwise this incredible opportunity will pass you by.
You get the idea. If you believe that something exists bad enough, eventually you will find someone that has exactly what you are looking for. My suggestion is to not believe that something exists, just because you think it should, etc.... There are a lot of very smart people doing IM, and if SEO could be boxed-up and packaged, it would be sold online for $9.99, everyone could do it, and no one would be making any money at it.
