Practitioner Research Skill

Research Workflow

Phase 1: Practice First (3-18 months)

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flowchart LR
    P1["🚀 Ship Projects"] --> P2["📝 Capture Insights"] --> P3["🔍 Notice Patterns"]
    P3 --> P4["💡 Publication Potential"]
    
    style P1 fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32
    style P2 fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1565c0
    style P3 fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#ef6c00
    style P4 fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#7b1fa2

• Work extensively in the domain (62 projects, 148 insights)
• Let patterns emerge through doing
• Global knowledge captures cross-project learnings
• Only write the paper AFTER the methodology is proven

Phase 2: Document Structure

The paper architecture follows this template:

1. Abstract (Structured)

   • Background: Problem context and gap
   • Objective: Research question
   • Method: What you did
   • Results: Key findings (quantified)
   • Contributions: Novel concepts introduced
   • Significance: Why it matters

2. Foundational Insight — Origin story, what sparked the research

3. Part I: Universal Framework — Generalizable principles anyone can use

4. Part II: Practitioner's Journey — Your specific implementation with evidence

5. Appendices — Raw data, project inventory, literature context

Phase 3: Evidence Collection

Document Templates

Structured Abstract Template

**Background.** [Problem context. What limitation exists?]

**Objective.** [Research question. What are you trying to answer?]

**Method.** [What you did. Framework name, duration, scale.]

**Results.** [Key findings with numbers. Quantify everything.]

**Contributions.** [Novel concepts introduced. Name them explicitly.]

**Significance.** [Why it matters. What gap does this fill in literature?]

Prior Art Table Template

Competitive Analysis Table Template

Legend: ⭐ = basic, ⭐⭐ = good, ⭐⭐⭐ = excellent, ❌ = missing

Project Inventory Table Template

Pattern Codes:

• 🚀 Quick win — completed in scope
• 🔄 Ongoing — living system
• 🎯 Promotion candidate — should earn skills
• ⚠️ Scope issue — unrealistic goals
• 🚧 Blocked — external dependencies
• 📦 Archive candidate — inactive

Visual Research Standards

Mermaid Color Palette

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When to Use Which Diagram

Citation Standards

APA 7 Quick Reference

## Single Author
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. *Journal Name, Volume*(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxx

## Multiple Authors (3+)
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title. *Journal*, pages.

## Web Sources
Author. (Year, Month Day). Title. *Site Name*. https://url

Fact-Checking Protocol

Before publication, verify:

1. Author names — Correct spelling and order
2. Dates — Publication year, access dates
3. Statistics — Exact figures, not approximations
4. DOIs — All links resolve
5. Referenced vs cited — Everything cited appears in References

Prior Art vs Novel Contributions

Always distinguish:

Research Question Development

The Core Question Pattern

How can [method/technology] help [users] achieve [outcome] over [timeframe], not just [immediate benefit]?

Example:

How can AI help developers get smarter over time, not just faster today?

FINER for Practitioner Research

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Publication Pipeline

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'edgeLabelBackground': '#ffffff'}}}%%
flowchart TB
    subgraph Practice["Phase 1: Practice"]
        A["Projects"] --> B["Insights"] --> C["Patterns"]
    end
    
    subgraph Document["Phase 2: Document"]
        D["Draft"] --> E["Diagrams"] --> F["Evidence Tables"]
    end
    
    subgraph Polish["Phase 3: Polish"]
        G["Literature Review"] --> H["Fact-Check"] --> I["Academic Structure"]
    end
    
    subgraph Publish["Phase 4: Publish"]
        J["Peer Review"] --> K["Revise"] --> L["Submit"]
    end
    
    Practice --> Document --> Polish --> Publish
    
    style Practice fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#1565c0
    style Document fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#ef6c00
    style Polish fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#7b1fa2
    style Publish fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32

Session Types for Research

Metrics That Matter

Integration with Alex Architecture

This research method leverages:

• Global Knowledge — Cross-project insights become evidence
• Meditation Protocols — Consolidation captures learnable patterns
• Skills from Doing — Only document proven methodologies
• Synaptic Connections — Related concepts linked explicitly

Troubleshooting

"My paper feels like a blog post"

Problem: Informal tone, missing academic structure

Solution:

1. Add structured abstract
2. Create Prior Art table
3. Add References section with APA 7
4. Split Part I (Universal) / Part II (Specific)

"I don't have enough evidence"

Problem: Thin case study, few projects

Solution:

1. Wait until you have 20+ projects
2. Include failures and anti-patterns
3. Add quantified metrics (time, count, percentage)

"My citations are all self-citations"

Problem: Looks like self-promotion

Solution:

1. Add literature context section
2. Show prior art for each concept
3. Distinguish "builds on" vs "introduces"

This skill was earned through writing AI-ASSISTED-DEVELOPMENT-METHODOLOGY.md — 1500+ lines, 22+ references, 17+ diagrams, fact-checked and publication-ready.