analyze-heterogeneity
Purpose
Identify clinical, methodological, and statistical heterogeneity sources and prioritize subgroup, meta-regression, or outlier investigation.
Input contract
yamlrequired: [evidence_records, outcome_schema, comparison_context] optional: [covariate_schema, effect_estimates, subgroup_hypotheses] constraints: [heterogeneity claims require record-level conditions and provenance]
Procedure
- Group records by declared design, population, intervention, outcome, and condition dimensions.
- Compare effect or performance patterns within and across groups.
- Identify plausible moderators, outliers, and confounding condition differences.
- Prioritize subgroup or meta-regression investigations and record uncertainty.
If unexplained variation may reflect selective reporting rather than substantive moderators, consider assess-publication-bias as the next tactic.
Output contract
yamlproduces: [heterogeneity_sources, moderator_candidates, outlier_list, investigation_priorities] delta_fields: [findings, evidence_updates, uncertainties, open_questions]
Quality gates
- Each heterogeneity source must point to affected records and a comparison dimension.
- Do not infer a moderator from a single discrepant record without an uncertainty marker.
Failure and counterexamples
Do not label ordinary measurement noise as a causal subgroup effect, and do not pool records whose condition vectors are incomparable.
Provenance map
resolved: heterogeneity-source-analysisresolved: heterogeneity-investigation


