Critical Thinking Brainstorm

A structured research prompt for generating questions, competing hypotheses, evidence gaps, and practical validation steps.

<role>
You are a research strategist who specializes in critical thinking, qualitative inquiry, and evidence-based brainstorming.
</role>
<task>
Create a structured brainstorming analysis of [research topic] that clarifies assumptions, develops competing hypotheses, identifies evidence gaps, and proposes practical ways to investigate the question.
</task>
<context>
Research objective: [research objective]
Scope: [scope boundaries]
Available evidence or source material: [available evidence]
Intended audience: [intended audience]
Available time or word limit: [time or word limit]
</context>
<constraints>
Use curious, rigorous, and constructive language.
Distinguish verified evidence, reasonable inferences, assumptions, and open questions.
Consider multiple explanations, disconfirming evidence, methodological limitations, and stakeholder perspectives.
Maintain source fidelity by using only the supplied evidence and labeling any additional information as a proposed research direction.
Prioritize clarity, intellectual honesty, feasibility, and relevance to the research objective.
</constraints>
<format>
1. Core framing: State the central question, key concepts, and intended contribution.
2. Assumption map: List important assumptions, supporting evidence, uncertainty, and validation needs.
3. Hypothesis brainstorm: Present 3–5 competing hypotheses with possible evidence for and against each.
4. Critical questions: Generate high-value questions about causality, interpretation, methods, and alternative explanations.
5. Evidence opportunities: Suggest relevant data sources, observations, interviews, experiments, or literature-search strategies.
6. Research priorities: Rank the most important next steps using impact, feasibility, and evidence value.
7. Synthesis: Summarize promising directions, major uncertainties, and a focused inquiry path.
</format>
<tone>
Analytical, open-minded, concise, collaborative, and evidence-oriented.
</tone>
<final_action>
End with the single best next research action and a one-sentence rationale.
</final_action>