yogsoth-ai Scope Calibration
Adjust research question scope — when a question is too broad or too narrow, find the right granularity through systematic zoom in/out.
When to Use
- The initial RQ is too broad (cannot be answered within a reasonable time)
- The initial RQ is too narrow (the answer is trivial or lacks significance)
- A balance between ambition and feasibility is needed
Thinking Framework
Core logic: a good research question has "Goldilocks" characteristics — not too broad, not too narrow, just right.
Zoom In (when the question is too broad)
Add constraints to narrow the scope:
- Time constraint: "within the past 5 years..."
- Place constraint: "among Chinese universities..."
- Population constraint: "for beginners..."
- Method constraint: "using a transformer architecture..."
- Phenomenon constraint: "especially under scenario X..."
Zoom Out (when the question is too narrow)
Relax constraints to widen the scope:
- Raise the level of abstraction: from concrete instance to general principle
- Remove unnecessary qualifiers
- Extend the scope of applicability
Judgment Criteria
- Too broad: requires a book to answer / cannot be answered by a single experiment
- Appropriate: answerable by one paper / a clear study design can be specified
- Too narrow: answer is self-evident / lacks theoretical contribution
Budget Gate
| Tier | Iteration rounds | Output |
|---|---|---|
| S | ≥1 round of scope adjustment | Appropriately scoped RQ |
| M | ≥2 rounds of scope adjustment + comparison | Before/after comparison + final RQ |
| L | ≥3 rounds + multi-direction exploration | Multiple granularity versions + rationale for the optimal choice |
Default Reference Flow
- Run scope-assessment on the current RQ
- Choose the zoom direction based on the verdict (too broad / too narrow)
- Apply constraint adjustments
- Re-assess scope
- Iterate until "appropriate"
- Confirm with the FINER check
context-checkpoint
After the strategy completes, context-checkpoint must be called, recording:
- The original RQ and its scope verdict
- The adjustment direction and concrete operations
- The final RQ and its scope verdict
- The adjustment rationale
Available Tactics
Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.
| Tactic | When to use |
|---|---|
| question-refinement-loop | Tactic: iteratively refine a research question until it passes all 5 FINER criteria |