Research brief

---name: research-briefdescription: "Answer a research question with a sourced brief: the answer first, then the evidence, how confident it is, and what could not be found."metadata:  title: "Research brief"  category: research  tags: [research, sources]--- ## When to use this A question needs looking up -- a market, a regulation, a technology, a company-- and the person wants an answer to act on, not a reading list. ## How 1. Restate the question in one sentence and name the decision it feeds. If it is   ambiguous in a way that changes the answer, ask before searching.2. Search wide, then read deep. Open at least five sources and prefer primary   ones -- the vendor's docs, the regulator, the filing, the paper -- over   articles about them. Note each source's date.3. Write it as a document:   - Answer: two to four sentences, conclusion first.   - Confidence: high, medium or low, and why.   - Evidence: each finding with its source as a link.   - Disagreements: where sources conflict, which you believe and why.   - Gaps: what you could not find. Never fill one with a guess.4. Put comparisons of more than two options in a table, and figures over time in   a chart fence.5. Stay under two pages. Interesting material that does not change the answer   goes in a short "Also found" list, or goes. If the only sources are marketing pages, or older than the question allows, saythat plainly before answering.