haipingxu/social-science-claude-scholar/interview-me

Research Interview — Socratic Research Development

Conduct a structured Socratic interview to formalize a research idea into a concrete specification. Ask questions one or two at a time — do not use AskUserQuestion. Wait for responses before continuing.

Philosophy: Draw out the researcher's thinking. Do not impose ideas. Probe weak spots gently. Build toward a specification through dialogue.

Interview Structure (5-6 exchanges)

Phase 1: The Big Picture (1-2 questions)

• "What phenomenon or puzzle are you trying to understand?"
• "Why does this matter — who should care about the answer?"

Phase 2: Theoretical Motivation (1-2 questions)

• "What's your intuition for what drives this outcome?"
• "What would standard theory predict? Do you expect something different?"

Phase 3: Identification (1-2 questions)

• "Is there a natural experiment, policy change, or source of exogenous variation you can exploit?"
• "What's the biggest threat to a causal interpretation? How would you address it?"

Phase 4: Data and Setting (1-2 questions)

• "What data do you have access to, or what would you ideally need?"
• "Is there a specific country, time period, or institutional context that makes this setting special?"

Phase 5: Expected Results and Contribution (1 question)

• "What would the results imply for policy or theory? How does this differ from what's already been done?"

After the Interview

Once sufficient information is gathered (typically 5-8 exchanges), produce a Research Specification Document and save to the session log or a /plan folder file.

# Research Specification: [Title]
 
**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
 
## Research Question
 
[Clear, specific question in one sentence]
 
## Motivation
 
[2-3 paragraphs: why this matters, theoretical context, policy relevance]
 
## Hypothesis
 
[Testable prediction with expected direction and magnitude intuition]
 
## Empirical Strategy
 
-**Method:** [e.g., Difference-in-Differences, IV, RDD, Synthetic Control]
-**Treatment:** [What varies and how]
-**Comparison group:** [Control unit/period]
-**Key identifying assumption:** [What must hold for causal interpretation]
-**Main threat to validity:** [And how to address it]
-**Robustness checks:** [Pre-trends, placebo, alternative estimators]
 
## Data
 
-**Primary dataset:** [Name, source, coverage, unit of observation]
-**Key variables:** [Treatment, outcome, controls]
-**Sample:** [Time period, geography, N approximate]
 
## Expected Results
 
[What to find, what would be surprising, economic magnitude intuition]
 
## Contribution
 
[How this advances the literature — 2-3 sentences, clearly differentiated]
 
## Open Questions
 
[Issues that need further thought before beginning]

Interview Style

• Ask one or two questions at a time — never a list
• Follow up based on the answer, don't rigidly follow the script
• If identification is weak, probe gently: "What would a skeptic say about that variation?"
• Stop interviewing when you have enough for a complete spec (usually 5-8 exchanges)
• Acknowledge strong ideas explicitly — good research deserves recognition