Methodology Memo

Analytical Question and Framing

Question Type Determination

What kind of question is the client asking? What would each framing produce? Why did you choose this framing?

Alternative Framings Considered

What other framings were possible? What would each have produced? Why were they not chosen?

Rationale for Chosen Framing

How does the chosen framing serve the client's actual decision? What evidence supports this choice?

Data Sources and Quality

What data is available? What are the known quality issues? What limitations does the data impose on the analysis?

Preparation Decisions

Data Cleaning

What records were excluded and why? How were missing values handled? What transformations were applied?

Attribution Reliability Assessment

How reliable is the marketing channel data? What biases exist? What does this mean for the analysis?

Methodology

Model Specification

What model was used? What predictors were included? What controls were applied?

Evaluation Approach

How was the model evaluated? What metrics were used? Why are these metrics appropriate for the question type?

Validation Strategy

Assumption Checks

What assumptions were tested? What were the results? What adjustments were made?

Sensitivity Analysis

What alternative specifications were tested? Did the conclusions change? What does this tell us about the robustness of the findings?

Cross-Model Review

Was a second AI used to review the methodology? What was found? How were legitimate findings addressed?

Limitations

What can the analysis support? What can it not support? What would be needed to strengthen the conclusions?

Findings Summary

What are the key findings in the client's language? What actions do the findings support?