Practice: write a table-analysis prompt and review plan

Unit ID: AIT-M08-U05 Estimated active time: 15-20 minutes

The main idea

The prompt and review plan should make analysis boundaries visible.

A boundary is a statement about what this analysis does not cover. Written down, it stops the analysis being quoted beyond its evidence.

Why this matters

Table analysis is quoted more often than it is read. The review plan is what a later reader uses to tell whether a figure was calculated or suggested.

Safe example

A safe sample table is used to ask for column checks, possible patterns, and verification steps.

Three requests, in that order. The verification steps are what turn the middle one into work rather than assertion.

Better working habit

End with what must be calculated or checked manually.

An explicit list. Anything on it is not yet a finding, and the list is what you work through next.

What to watch for

Do not overclaim analysis from a small or incomplete table.

Say the row count in the output. Ten rows and ten thousand rows support very different sentences.

Mini practice

Create a table-analysis prompt and review plan.

Run it on a safe table and complete the manual checks it lists.

Check yourself

Before moving on, answer:

• What does this analysis not cover?
• Which figures are calculated and which are suggested?
• How many rows is this based on, and does the wording reflect that?