Looking for 1 research request that keeps expanding without reaching a decision
Many research projects stay open for longer than expected.
Not because the research is weak.
Not because the team is inactive.
Because nobody defined what would be considered sufficient.
So more information is collected.
More reviews are requested.
More updates are shared.
The work continues.
The decision remains open.
If you have a research request that keeps expanding:
- what decision needs to be made
- what evidence is required
- who closes the decision
Send 3–5 lines.
I will identify the likely blocker and missing structure.
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what stood out to me is this feels less like a research quality problem and more like no one knows what “enough evidence” actually means.
if that line isn’t clear, the research can just keep expanding even when it’s already good enough.
do you usually decide that upfront, or only after seeing what evidence you can actually find?
I usually try to define it as early as possible.
Not every piece of evidence can be known upfront, but there should be some agreement on what would be enough to make the decision.
Otherwise the threshold tends to move every time new information appears.
I've seen cases where the research was already good enough, but nobody was comfortable saying, "we have enough to decide."
The research kept moving.
The decision didn't.