Prompt library
Generate research questions worth asking
The descriptive-causal-interventional ladder is how research methodologists actually taxonomize questions, so the output maps to study designs instead of vague curiosities. Forcing a confound, an obstacle, and a final ranked pick turns brainstorming into triage.
Last reviewed July 17, 2026
The prompt
Generate research questions about {{topic}}.
Produce 12 candidate questions in three tiers:
- 4 descriptive (what is happening), each answerable with existing public data.
- 4 causal (what drives it), each naming the confound most likely to ruin the study.
- 4 interventional (what would change it), each naming the experiment you would run and its biggest practical obstacle.
For every question add one line: why the answer would matter, and to whom. Then pick the single question with the best ratio of importance to difficulty and defend the pick in 3 sentences. Reject any question whose answer is already settled; say what settled it.Run in idaptOpens a new chat with the prompt prefilled. Nothing sends until you press send.
Fill in the variables
| Variable | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| {{topic}} | The area you want to investigate | the impact of remote work on junior engineer onboarding |