Research Synthesis

Merge a pile of sources into a single brief that shows where the sources agree, where they conflict, and what none of them answer. Synthesis is cross-source structure — not a stack of per-source summaries.

Steps

1. Inventory the sources: list every file or link the user provides with a one-line

description and its type (primary data, reporting, opinion, marketing). Confirm the research question the synthesis must answer — without one, ask before reading further.

1. Read each source, capturing per source: its main claims, the evidence offered, its date,

and any obvious bias or interest.

1. Build the synthesis across sources:

• Themes — 3–6 recurring threads, each citing which sources support it.
• Consensus — claims multiple independent sources agree on (note when "agreement"

is really one origin quoted many times).

• Contradictions — where sources conflict, shown side by side with each side's

evidence; do not silently resolve a conflict by picking a winner.

• Gaps — what the research question needs that no source answers.
• Bottom line — 3–5 sentences answering the research question, at the confidence

the evidence actually supports.

1. Verify: every claim in the brief carries a source attribution; any claim traceable to

only one source is marked single-source. If two sources' dates differ by years, flag which may be stale rather than averaging them.

Constraints

• Never pad thin evidence into a confident conclusion — "the sources don't establish this"

is a valid and often the correct bottom line.

• Keep the brief under two pages; the per-source inventory goes in an appendix, not the body.

Full walkthrough, examples, and variations: recipes/Recipe-007-Research-Synthesis.md.