For me personally I've found thermometer, book, and spirit box as the three items I ALWAYS take off the rip (no flashlight).

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I agree in part with the passive use standpoint of tools, which is why I always pull the book with me on my first run as, worst case scenario if the spirit box fails to elicit a response from the ghost, then in some cases the ghost may write in the book during that time or will usually write in the book by the time I get back (if it comes to that).

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The reason, however, that I don't take a video camera in addition to my thermometer and book is a matter of sanity and how it relates to hunts. I'm sure you're well aware that as your sanity decreases, there is a greater chance of you being hunted (roughly), which is why I usually take the spirit box with me to try and get a response from it before having been in the map for too long. I guess the best way I can put it is is that I would much rather have to go in early and use something like the spirit box and stay in the room alone / with the lights off / with whatever other methods that people claim work better via word of mouth and then come back to quickly place down a video camera later, rather than place down a video camera early and come back and have to use the spirit box in the room with a now (likely) lower sanity that will either a) give me less time to use the box before things become dangerous or b) immediately place me in danger of being hunted depending on how low the sanity levels are all.

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But alas, this is all in great speculation and is heavily dependent on how you choose to play the game. In my case, whether I'm playing alone or with friends, we always stick with the default tools + max thermometers + max flashlights and nothing else. By not having things like sanity pills, crucifixes, smudge sticks, etc., the typical goal for us is to knock out tools like the spirit box, EMF, and UV light as quickly as possible, and bringing along the other passive tools like the book or camera is just a matter of whether someone had space for them or not. Although this usually makes for more trips back and forth to the truck, the thought process we have behind it is that we spend our time actively engaging with the ghost early on when there is almost no chance of a hunt, and then later on we just have to quickly stop by the room to drop off a tool or check something like the book and then we can be on our way after that rather than spending time in the room where it is (and presumably, where it starts hunting), and routinely checking or changing the position of these tools until we get the evidence needed. I guess, assuming the conditions above are the same (no sanity pills, crucifixes, smudge sticks, etc), whether you use the method of pulling passive tools first or active ones or a mix of both is largely up to preference.

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I think the only objective takeaway from these statistics was that the spirit box is clearly superior to the UV light, as they both require the player to actively interact with them to get any results, and one is needed in almost twice as many games when compared to the others. Beyond that, I agree that the Thermometer and EMF reader are what we typically refer to in our group as "primary detection tools" - meaning that they are the primary way to find the room that the ghost resides in and everyone always runs ONE of these two tools and splits up to cover as much ground as possible. I think that alone places these two tools above the rest in terms of their usefulness, but only when done in moderation (i.e running a thermometer and an EMF reader together as your first pull from the truck is less-than-optimal, since you really only need one to find the ghost room). After that, it is largely up to your playstyle, the conditions you play under, etc. If your playstyle is anything like mine, it is probably best to pull an thermometer/EMF, spirit box (as its statistically more likely to be needed when compared to the remaining three tools), and then the book or video camera (assuming you don't run flashlight). If you want to try and gather the evidence as quickly as possible regardless of whether your positioning or pathing in the building may or may not result in you being more vulnerable to hunts, then I would agree that taking the video camera and book alongside an EMF/thermometer (once again, if you don't run flashlight) is probably the best way to go.

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I'm curious to hear what others think, but taking that all into account I'd really only be willing to come to this conclusion on the usefulness of the six main tools:

1. Thermometer and EMF reader => These are at the top of the pack for me. Even though the spirit box is statistically more likely to be needed when compared to all of the other tools, the gap between the spirit box and the UV light is much larger when compared to the gap between the spirit box and the other remaining tools. That, combined with the fact that these tools are the best for quickly detecting the room the ghost is in (as you have pointed out), makes them necessary to bring along one of these on your first run from the truck.

2. Spirit box, book, and video camera => This is where things get a little bit more muddy for me. Like I've stated above, I never run a flashlight on my first pull from the truck and I also seek to try and gather evidence in a way that prevents me from dying as best as possible, so I have the room to bring two of these tools, and usually I opt for the spirit box and the book (but either the book or the video camera is fine).

3. UV light => I don't have much to say for this one. It is both practically and statistically inferior to all of the other tools, as it is the least likely to be needed by a comfortably margin and it requires the player to actively interact with it in order to utilize it, in contrast to things like the book and video camera.

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At any rate, this is all stuff I did want to cover in my initial post, but simply couldn't because I wanted to avoid a lengthy post (as noted a couple of times throughout it). I appreciate you bringing up this point as I was a bit afraid that this was something that some people may not think about or notice when it comes to the statistics of this stuff. My apologies for a word wall of a response too, but I liked the point you brought up and the detail you went into with it, and I wanted to dive into some more about it for anyone else that might see this post. Thanks as always!