Framework Engineering Research

An open index of evidence, theory, and practice

research-document

Current State

Research Area
General Research
Status
draft
Version
0.1
Priority
medium
Updated
2026-07-22
Source
CURRENT_STATE.md

Current State

Foundation

  • Constitution
  • Evidence-first reasoning
  • Appropriate Precision
  • Knowledge Promotion
  • Framework Validation Standard
  • Framework Canonical Model Standard

Active Measurement Instrument

  • FEMS-1

Status: Active

Active Corpus Work

FE-008 Reference Corpus Batch 001

Target: 10 artifacts

Artifacts:

  • SWOT
  • Five Whys
  • Decision Matrix
  • Kepner-Tregoe
  • OODA Loop
  • Cynefin
  • Blue Ocean Strategy
  • Balanced Scorecard
  • OKRs
  • Hoshin Kanri

Active Research

  • FE-001 Framework Engineering Hypothesis
  • FE-002 Framework Archetype Hypothesis
  • FE-003 Framework Composition Hypothesis
  • FE-004 Primitive Cognitive Operations
  • FE-005 Predictive Framework Engineering
  • FE-006 Primitive Composition Grammar
  • FE-007 Knowledge Artifact Taxonomy
  • FE-008 Knowledge Artifact Boundary Study
  • FE-008A Identity-Capability Principle
  • Theory of Framework Engineering v0.1

Active Experiments

  • Knowledge Artifact Characterization Sheet
  • Blind Review Protocol
  • Primitive Cognitive Operations reduction
  • Predictive framework analysis
  • Artifact boundary classification
  • FE-011A LLM Blind Pilot Purpose: Test whether Framework Engineering redesigns improve task outputs before human validation.
  • FE-012A Blind Primitive Reasoning Extraction Purpose: Test whether primitive reasoning operations emerge independently from diverse knowledge artifacts.
  • FE-012B Primitive Grammar Synthesis Experiment Purpose: Test whether the frozen primitive vocabulary can synthesize coherent procedural frameworks for novel problems.
  • FE-012C Manual Multi-Model Replication Kit Purpose: Support transparent manual multi-model replication of primitive grammar extraction without APIs or automation, with reproducible reporting from stored response JSON.
  • FE-012C Repeatability Run 001 Purpose: Re-run the FE-012C packet instrument in fresh model conversations to test whether the same instrument produces similar results across time without modifying prior results.
  • FE-012C Dataset Comparison Report Purpose: Compare the original FE-012C manual replication dataset against repeatability run 001 to identify stability, drift, and model-specific elaboration patterns without claiming theory validation.
  • FE-013 Procedural Language Hypothesis Purpose: Test whether procedural frameworks exhibit compiler-like structural properties recoverable from natural-language descriptions as procedural ASTs and constraints.

Research Operating System

  • Hypothesis Registry
  • Evidence Collection Run format
  • Confidence update process
  • Kill condition guide
  • Multi-layer measurement schema
  • Clarity and EDF relevance tracking
  • Research dashboard template
  • Decision log

Active Evidence Runs

  • ECR-000001 Multi-Layer Procedural Representation Purpose: Collect primitive, AST, constraint, control-flow, reliability, and product relevance data from the same artifact packet in one bundled evidence pass.

Product Architecture Note: Clarity is currently modeled as a belief-management system that converts uncertainty into decisions. EDF is modeled as the execution layer that receives commitments from decisions.

Active Run: FE-013 Manual Run

Purpose: Collect GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini procedural AST outputs for FE-013 using manual console execution.

Open Questions

  • What operational criteria reliably distinguish frameworks from adjacent artifact types?
  • Are primitive cognitive operations stable?
  • Are framework grammars compositions of primitives?
  • Can independent analysts reproduce artifact classifications?
  • Can Framework Engineering predict unfamiliar framework structure?

Next Milestone

Run ECR-000001 as an instrument calibration pass before using the operating-system scaffold for broader hypothesis testing.

Current Theory Status

Framework Engineering currently has provisional evidence as a characterization and improvement methodology, not yet as a full engineering discipline.

Current Phase

ECR-000003 Hypothesis Review Board

Current Instrument

Comparator v3.1.0 frozen

Current Explainability Layer

Comparator 3.2.0

Current Goal

Review each active hypothesis against accepted ECR-000003 evidence, assess kill conditions, approve qualitative updates, and select the next highest-information research action.

Current Focus

Immediate Human Action:

Review research/evidence-runs/ECR-000003-representation-sensitivity/review-board/HYPOTHESIS-REVIEW-BOARD-PACKET.md

Then:

Review research/evidence-runs/ECR-000003-representation-sensitivity/review-board/hypotheses/
Review research/evidence-runs/ECR-000003-representation-sensitivity/review-board/HYPOTHESIS-REVIEW-BOARD-SUMMARY.md
Review research/evidence-runs/ECR-000003-representation-sensitivity/review-board/HYPOTHESIS-REVIEW-BOARD-DECISION.md