enoch-research/METHODOLOGY.md

Methodology

Purpose

This project develops a durable, auditable argument corpus.

Principles

1. No survey-language shortcuts

Avoid formulations like:

• "what Jews believed"
• "if you asked an early first-century Jew"

Unless carefully narrowed and sourced.

2. Distinguish categories

Do not collapse:

• canon
• authority
• interpretive authority
• rhetorical borrowing
• conceptual overlap
• direct quotation
• framework-level dependence

3. Preserve claim granularity

Every important argument should have:

• a claim ID
• a stable formulation
• mapped evidence
• reuse targets

4. Avoid premature overclaiming

Where evidence is partial, say:

• "suggests"
• "participates in"
• "preserves"
• "may indicate"

Reserve stronger claims for well-supported cases.

5. Build toward stronger conclusions gradually

The series should move:

• from method
• to textual environment
• to case studies
• to authority questions
• to interpretive necessity

6. Separate tool from research

Tooling may assist this project, but the research corpus remains independent.