Agent-Skills.md

Agent Skills: Research Methodology

Structured research using sophisticated query design, source vetting, and synthesis techniques. Use when conducting competitive analysis, market scans, historical investigations, or trend research.

UncategorizedID: NickCrew/claude-cortex/research-methodology

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NickCrew/claude-cortex
NickCrewLicense: MIT
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pnpm dlx add-skill https://github.com/NickCrew/claude-cortex/tree/HEAD/skills/research-methodology

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skills/research-methodology/SKILL.md

Skill Metadata

Name
research-methodology
Description
Structured research using sophisticated query design, source vetting, and synthesis techniques. Use when conducting competitive analysis, market scans, historical investigations, or trend research.

Research Methodology

Structured approach to finding, vetting, and synthesizing information from diverse sources. Turns research questions into trustworthy, actionable findings through systematic query design, source evaluation, and cross-referencing.

When to Use This Skill

  • Conducting competitive analysis or market scans
  • Investigating historical events, trends, or technical evolution
  • Fact-checking claims across multiple sources
  • Synthesizing research into structured deliverables (reports, tables, timelines)
  • Any research task that requires more than a single search query

Quick Reference

| Resource | Purpose | Load when | |----------|---------|-----------| | references/search-strategies.md | Query design, source vetting, fact verification, synthesis techniques | Starting any research task |

Workflow

Phase 1: Scope       → Define research objective, key questions, constraints
Phase 2: Explore     → Design queries, search broadly, capture sources
Phase 3: Verify      → Vet sources, cross-reference claims, assess credibility
Phase 4: Synthesize  → Organize findings into structured deliverables

Phase 1: Scope the Research

Before searching, clarify the research objective:

  1. State the question -- what exactly are we trying to learn?
  2. Define success criteria -- what does a complete answer look like?
  3. Set constraints -- time period, geography, domains, source types
  4. List hypotheses -- what do we expect to find? (helps detect bias)
  5. Identify key terms -- domain vocabulary, synonyms, related concepts

Scoping Template

**Research Question**: [precise question]
**Success Criteria**: [what constitutes a complete answer]
**Constraints**: [time period, scope, source types]
**Key Terms**: [domain vocabulary and synonyms]
**Initial Hypotheses**: [what we expect, to check against later]

Phase 2: Explore

Design multiple query variations and search broadly before narrowing:

  1. Create 3-5 query variations per research question
  2. Search broadly first -- cast a wide net with general terms
  3. Refine iteratively -- narrow based on initial results
  4. Track what you searched -- record every query for reproducibility

Query Design Principles

  • Use exact-match phrases in quotes for precision
  • Exclude noise with negative keywords
  • Target specific timeframes for recency or historical depth
  • Vary terminology across queries to avoid vocabulary bias
  • Use domain-specific operators when available (site:, filetype:, etc.)

Source Capture

For each promising source, record:

  • URL and access date
  • Key claims with direct quotes
  • Author/publisher and their domain authority
  • Any noted biases or limitations

Phase 3: Verify

Vet sources and cross-reference claims before trusting them:

  1. Assess source authority -- who wrote it, what are their credentials?
  2. Check recency -- is the information current enough for the question?
  3. Detect bias -- does the source have a commercial, political, or ideological interest?
  4. Triangulate -- require 2+ independent sources for any key claim
  5. Seek primary sources -- follow citation chains to the original data

Confidence Rating

| Level | Criteria | |-------|----------| | Confirmed | 3+ independent, authoritative sources agree | | Likely | 2 sources agree, no contradictions found | | Uncertain | Single source or sources disagree | | Contested | Credible sources directly contradict each other |

Phase 4: Synthesize

Organize findings into a structured deliverable:

Standard Research Report Structure

## Research Summary
[1-2 paragraph overview of findings]

## Key Findings
- [Finding 1] — [confidence level]
- [Finding 2] — [confidence level]

## Detailed Analysis
[Organized by theme or question]

## Source Credibility Assessment
| Source | Authority | Recency | Bias Risk | Rating |
|--------|-----------|---------|-----------|--------|

## Gaps and Limitations
[What we couldn't determine and why]

## Recommendations
[Next steps or actions based on findings]

Anti-Patterns

  • Do not rely on a single source for any key claim
  • Do not present uncertain findings as confirmed facts
  • Do not skip source vetting for convenience
  • Do not omit contradictory evidence -- always surface disagreements
  • Do not let initial hypotheses bias which findings you report