| name | research-question |
| version | 1.0 |
| description | Validates and scopes a research question before investigation begins. Use when formulating a new research item, reviewing a drafted question for quality, or checking whether a question is ready to hand to the research skill. |
Skill: Research Question Formulation
When Not to Use
- When a research question already exists and has been validated — proceed directly to the
research skill
- When the task is to investigate rather than to scope (this skill prepares the question;
research executes it)
- When the question is a creative brief, design prompt, or opinion request — those are not research questions
Interaction Protocol
Before starting, ask if not already clear:
- What decision or problem does the answer need to inform?
- Are there known constraints (time, source types, access, domain)?
- What output type is expected (knowledge, decision, recommendation, artefact)?
Output style: Return a validated research question with scope, constraints, approach, and a readiness verdict. Flag every gap that would prevent investigation from starting.
Inputs and Outputs
Input: A candidate research question or topic statement, with optional context
Output: A validated research question with scope boundaries, constraints, decomposed approach sub-questions, and a readiness verdict (ready / needs revision)
Composability: Use before research (gates the start of investigation); the output feeds directly into research §0 Initialise
1. Question Quality Test
A research question is ready when it passes all five tests:
| Test | Pass condition | Fail signal |
|---|
| Specific | Names the subject, the comparison or evaluation, and the context | "Investigate X", "What about Y", vague topic statements |
| Answerable | Can be resolved with evidence available in principle | Requires future events, unobtainable data, or pure opinion |
| Scoped | Has explicit in-scope and out-of-scope boundaries | No scope defined; would expand infinitely |
| Motivated | States what decision or problem the answer informs | No stated purpose; investigating for its own sake |
| Decomposable | Can be broken into at least two atomic sub-questions | Monolithic; cannot be subdivided |
If any test fails, the question needs revision before investigation begins.
2. Question Rewriting
If the question fails the Specific test, rewrite it using this pattern:
"What is the [best / most appropriate / correct] [X] for [purpose] given [constraints]?"
Examples:
- Weak: "Investigate memory management for agents"
- Strong: "What is the most operationally practical memory architecture for a single-owner research agent running in GitHub Actions, given a constraint of no persistent server and a corpus under 500 items?"
If the question fails the Scoped test, add explicit boundaries:
- In scope: list the specific aspects, technologies, or contexts that are in scope
- Out of scope: list the aspects explicitly excluded and why
- Constraints: time horizon, source types, access limitations, budget
3. Approach Decomposition
Decompose the validated question into sub-questions before investigation begins.
Rules:
- Each sub-question must be answerable with a single evidence-based claim
- Sub-questions must be independent where possible (parallel, not sequential)
- Number each sub-question; use letter suffixes for nested decomposition (1a, 1b)
- If a sub-question cannot be answered without first answering another, make the dependency explicit
Stopping condition: decomposition is complete when every leaf sub-question passes the Specific and Answerable tests independently.
4. Readiness Verdict
After applying tests, rewriting, and decomposing, issue one of two verdicts:
READY: The question is specific, answerable, scoped, motivated, and decomposed. Hand to the research skill.
NEEDS REVISION: List each failing test with a concrete fix instruction. Do not proceed to investigation until all tests pass.
5. Output Format
Research Question: [final validated question]
Scope:
In scope: [list]
Out of scope: [list]
Constraints: [list]
Context: [one sentence: what decision or problem this informs]
Approach:
1. [sub-question]
1a. [atomic]
1b. [atomic]
2. [sub-question]
Readiness: READY | NEEDS REVISION
[If NEEDS REVISION: list each failing test and fix instruction]
