sub-question-decomposition

name	sub-question-decomposition
description	Tactic: Decompose a main question into a hierarchy of independently answerable sub-questions
version	1.0.0
category	hypothesis-formation
type	tactic
campaign	research-question
sops	["sub-question-generation","dependency-mapping","answering-sequence-design"]
dependencies	{"sops":["answering-sequence-design","dependency-mapping","sub-question-generation"]}

Sub-Question Decomposition

Decompose a main question into a hierarchy of independently answerable sub-questions — when the question is too complex to answer in one pass.

Orchestration Intent

Structure "decomposing a complex question" as: generate sub-questions → map dependencies → design answering order. The three steps run sequentially, each step's output being the next step's input.

Available SOPs

SOP	Responsibility	When to call
sub-question-generation	Decompose the main question into sub-questions	First step, mandatory
dependency-mapping	Map dependency relationships among sub-questions	After sub-questions are generated
answering-sequence-design	Design the optimal answering order	After the dependency graph is complete

Orchestration Pattern

Serial mode (the only mode):

1. sub-question-generation → sub-question list + independence argument
2. dependency-mapping → dependency graph + critical path
3. answering-sequence-design → execution sequence + parallelization opportunities

Each step strictly depends on the previous step's output; no parallelization.

Minimum Yield

• ≥3 sub-questions (M tier)
• Each sub-question has an independence argument
• Dependency graph (no circular dependencies)
• Suggested answering sequence + parallelization opportunity identification

Yield Report

After execution, report:

• Number of sub-questions generated
• Number of dependency relationships
• Critical path length
• Groups of sub-questions that can be answered in parallel

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

SOP	When to use
answering-sequence-design	SOP: Design the optimal answering order for sub-questions
dependency-mapping	SOP: map dependency relationships among sub-questions
sub-question-generation	SOP: Decompose a main research question into independently answerable sub-questions