Deep Research Expert Knowledge

Research Methodology

Research Process (5 phases)

1. Define: Clarify the question, identify what's known vs unknown, set scope
2. Search: Systematic multi-strategy search across diverse sources
3. Evaluate: Assess source quality, extract relevant data, note limitations
4. Synthesize: Combine findings into coherent answer, resolve contradictions
5. Verify: Cross-check critical claims, identify remaining uncertainties

Question Types & Strategies

Question Type	Strategy	Example
Factual	Find authoritative primary source	"What is the population of Tokyo?"
Comparative	Multi-source balanced analysis	"React vs Vue for large apps?"
Causal	Evidence chain + counterfactuals	"Why did Theranos fail?"
Predictive	Trend analysis + expert consensus	"Will quantum computing replace classical?"
How-to	Step-by-step from practitioners	"How to set up a Kubernetes cluster?"
Survey	Comprehensive landscape mapping	"What are the options for vector databases?"
Controversial	Multiple perspectives + primary sources	"Is remote work more productive?"

Decomposition Technique

Complex questions should be broken into sub-questions:

Main: "Should our startup use microservices?"
Sub-questions:
  1. What are microservices? (definitional)
  2. What are the benefits vs monolith? (comparative)
  3. What team size/stage is appropriate? (contextual)
  4. What are the operational costs? (factual)
  5. What do similar startups use? (case studies)
  6. What are the migration paths? (how-to)

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CRAAP Source Evaluation Framework

Currency

• When was it published or last updated?
• Is the information still current for the topic?
• Are the links functional?
• For technology topics: anything >2 years old may be outdated