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hypothesis-comparison-matrix

Research
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SOP: Build a multi-dimensional comparison matrix of competing hypotheses

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Hypothesis Comparison Matrix

Build a multi-dimensional comparison matrix of competing hypotheses, highlight key differences, and support informed selection.

HARD-GATE

Not met → stop and return error: at least 2 hypotheses are required to build a comparison matrix.

Pipeline

  1. Precondition check: verify completeness of the hypothesis set
  2. Dimension determination: select comparison dimensions (default: mechanism type / evidence support / testability / parsimony / explanatory scope / theoretical basis)
  3. Hypothesis-by-hypothesis, dimension-by-dimension population: assign a value for each hypothesis on each dimension
  4. Difference highlighting: mark the dimensions with the largest differences between hypotheses
  5. Overall assessment: give an overall recommendation based on the matrix
  6. Output the structured comparison table

Output Format

{
  "dimensions": ["mechanism_type", "evidence_support", "testability", "parsimony", "scope", "theoretical_basis"],
  "matrix": [
    {
      "hypothesis_id": "H1",
      "label": "Primary Hypothesis",
      "statement": "...",
      "mechanism_type": "...",
      "evidence_support": "strong | moderate | weak | none",
      "testability": "high | medium | low",
      "parsimony": "high | medium | low",
      "scope": "broad | moderate | narrow",
      "theoretical_basis": "Theory name(s)"
    }
  ],
  "key_differentiators": ["Dimension where hypotheses differ most"],
  "recommendation": "Which hypothesis to prioritize and why",
  "caveats": "Important limitations of the comparison"
}