DAE analysis: the pipeline, phases and quality gates
Analysis (DAE)
DAE (Delphi Analysis Ecosystem) is the ecosystem's interpretive layer. Where Pronoia describes — what the panel said and how views moved — DAE answers what it means. DAE is the methodological interpretive authority, and it works under quality gates (κ / QVG) and human review.
The boundary is kept strict on purpose. If description and interpretation blurred — or if assistants generated "ready" conclusions — a false sense of precision would arise. A Pronoia report is not an analysis but its source material; interpretation is done in DAE.
Handoff in — what DAE reads
DAE receives Pronoia's export contract: an eDelphi CSV, a Handoff Package (JSON, read by DAE CP-0/CP-2) and DAE_STATE.json. The package carries the orientation, the panel matrix type, the argument space (theses × members), the epistemic coverage, the perspective summary and the validation status. Downstream verifies this contract before starting — a malformed dataset cannot silently enter analysis.
The pipeline: 21 checkpoints, eight phases
The DAE orchestrator runs the material through 21 checkpoints (CP-0…CP-20), one phase at a time, with operational discipline and User Choice Points. The phases:
| Phase | Checkpoints | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | CP-0…CP-2 | Panel validation (MaxPanelist, PQS) + quantitative base (MaxQuant: distributions, clustering, ECI) |
| Content trilogy | CP-3…CP-5 | Dialogue analysis (MaxDA), argument analysis (MaxAA: Toulmin + epistemic 7×3 coding), critical discourse analysis (MaxDiscourse) |
| System trilogy | CP-7…CP-10 | Causal layers (MaxCLA / depth), multi-level perspective (MaxMLP / dynamics), soft systems (MaxCATWOE / purpose) + adaptive panel supplementation |
| Futures | CP-11…CP-13 | Weak signals (MaxWS), signal validation, tension map (MaxTension: dissensus) |
| Synthesis | CP-14 | Cross-trilogy integration (MaxGrandSynthesis): keystone, stability, polyphonic synthesis, falsification + perspective depth |
| Report | CP-15…CP-18 | Scenarios (MaxScenarios) + audience-specific stakeholder reports (MaxReports) |
| Continuity | CP-19…CP-20 | Case library: store the run and its lessons for the next study |
The phases group into trilogies: content (what the panel argued), system (depth · dynamics · purpose) and futures (signals · tensions). Synthesis integrates every lens.
The quality engine — when the human enters the loop
DAE's quality engine ensures the qualitative checkpoints are valid:
- Smoke and adversarial tests plus a gate validator gate every phase.
- κ (kappa) measures coding agreement; low κ routes to human coding (QVG — Quality Validation Gate).
- RED ZONE phases (synthesis, scenarios, reports) require special human judgement.
When automated confidence is not enough, the analyst is brought into the loop — and the facilitator decides how far interpretation should reach. This is the arc's methodological guardrail: delegation is not a loss of control.
Outputs
The pipeline ultimately produces scenarios (several paths: causal layers, multi-level perspective, tensions, soft systems) and audience-specific reports with data-provenance markers. The synthesis is falsification-tested and keystone-validated — not an impression but a traceable, gated interpretation.
What if DAE is not in use?
Not everyone has the DAE ecosystem. For them, Pronoia offers descriptive report formats (summary, per-thesis result cards with arguments, round comparison) in HTML/PDF/Word. They give a proper summary but stay deliberately descriptive — they do not replace DAE's interpretation.
Sources: help/06-dae; the DAE core (dae-core) and phase modules.