Theory_of_Requirement_Facts/docs/workflows/knowledge-work.md

Knowledge-Work Workflow

1. Frame the task

Record:

• the exact question or decision;
• audience and intended use;
• scope, jurisdictions, industries, entities, and time period;
• cutoff date for current information;
• required deliverables and level of detail;
• material assumptions and exclusions.

2. Build the source hierarchy

Default priority:

1. primary documents, official data, statutes, regulations, judgments, filings, contracts, and original research;
2. high-quality institutional or peer-reviewed analysis;
3. reputable secondary reporting;
4. commentary and discovery sources.

Use lower-tier material to locate or contextualize higher-tier evidence. Do not use it to overrule primary evidence without explanation.

3. Retrieve and verify

For each material source:

• verify title, author or institution, date, version, and relevant scope;
• inspect the underlying text, table, appendix, or data—not only a snippet or abstract;
• capture the smallest locator that supports the proposition;
• note limitations, conflicts, and whether the source is current enough.

4. Maintain a claim-evidence matrix

Material claim	Evidence	Source quality	Counterevidence	Status
...	...	Primary/Secondary	...	Verified/Qualified/Unverified

Do not draft a confident synthesis while decisive claims remain unmapped.

5. Analyze

Separate:

• descriptive facts;
• causal claims and identification assumptions;
• legal or institutional interpretation;
• the source author's conclusion;
• the agent's critique;
• the agent's proposal.

For quantitative claims, check definitions, units, denominators, sample construction, timing, missingness, and comparability.

6. Adversarial review

Before finalizing:

• search for disconfirming evidence;
• identify alternative explanations;
• check whether sources are independent or merely repeat one another;
• test whether the conclusion depends on a single fragile assumption;
• identify what evidence would reverse the conclusion.

7. Deliver

Lead with the conclusion and decision relevance. Then provide:

• scope and method;
• evidence-backed findings;
• disagreements and counterevidence;
• assumptions and limitations;
• implications or recommendations;
• a clear separation between verified findings and original inference.