media-meta-analysis skill

---
name: media-meta-analysis
description: Synthesize multiple media analyses into cross-source patterns and insights. Use when you need to cross-reference analyses, find patterns across sources, or perform meta-analysis of media content.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: jwynia
  version: "1.0"
  type: utility
  mode: evaluative
  domain: research
---

# Media Meta-Analysis

## Purpose

Synthesize patterns and connections across multiple individual media analyses to reveal deeper insights, conceptual networks, and emergent themes. Operates on collections of analyzed content, not individual pieces.

## Core Principle

**The whole reveals what the parts cannot.** Patterns invisible in individual sources become visible across collections.

---

## When to Use

Use after analyzing multiple pieces with individual extraction (e.g., media content extraction framework). This framework operates on **collections** of analyses, not raw media.

---

## Collection Assessment

### 1. Corpus Composition

Document collection characteristics:
- **Content types:** Video, article, podcast, etc.
- **Temporal distribution:** Recency, historical coverage
- **Creator diversity:** Single source or multiple
- **Topic distribution:** Narrow or broad
- **Depth distribution:** Quick takes vs. deep dives
- **Audience variations:** Expert vs. general

**Identify biases or gaps in coverage**

### 2. Concept Frequency Analysis

| Analysis | What to Track |
|----------|---------------|
| Most frequent concepts | Core themes |
| High connection density | Hub concepts |
| Isolated concepts | Orphan ideas |
| Concept clusters | Related idea groups |
| Terminology variations | Same idea, different words |
| Evolution over time | How ideas develop |

### 3. Argument Pattern Identification

Map the argumentation landscape:
- Recurring claim types
- Common evidence patterns
- Shared assumptions across sources
- Consistent logical structures
- Frequent fallacies
- Areas of consensus vs. contention

---

## Connection Mapping

### 1. Concept Bridges

Discover connections between disparate sources:
- Shared conceptual foundations
- Complementary frameworks
- Terminological equivalences
- Parallel reasoning patterns
- Similar metaphorical structures
- Common historical/theoretical references

**Map connection strength and directionality**

### 2. Contradiction Detection

Identify meaningful tensions:

| Type | Example |
|------|---------|
| Direct claim contradictions | Source A says X, Source B says not-X |
| Competing interpretations | Same evidence, different conclusions |
| Framework incompatibilities | Fundamental approach differences |
| Value priority differences | Different hierarchies |
| Definitional inconsistencies | Same term, different meanings |
| Methodological disagreements | How to study the question |

**Note whether contradictions are apparent or fundamental**

### 3. Reinforcement Patterns

Identify mutually supporting elements:
- Complementary evidence
- Multi-source claim verification
- Framework compatibility
- Methodological triangulation
- Converging conclusions from different approaches
- Progressive refinement across sources

**Rate reinforcement strength and source independence**

---

## Synthesis Elements

### 1. Emergent Themes

Patterns not prominent in individual pieces:
- Implicit value structures
- Recurring unacknowledged assumptions
- Evolving discourse patterns
- Shifts in emphasis
- Boundary conditions of consensus
- Questions raised but never answered

### 2. Knowledge Gaps

Map the negative space:
- Consistently unaddressed questions
- Missing methodological approaches
- Excluded stakeholder perspectives
- Underdeveloped theoretical connections
- Limited evidential support areas
- Potential blind spots

**Prioritize by significance and addressability**

### 3. Insight Amplification

Elements that gain significance across sources:
- Ideas recurring in different contexts
- Concepts serving as connective tissue
- Formulations clarifying across domains
- Evidence gaining cumulative strength
- Questions revealing deeper patterns
- Frameworks with broad applicability

---

## Integration Protocol

### 1. Cross-Reference Index

| Structure | Purpose |
|-----------|---------|
| Concept-to-source index | Find where ideas appear |
| Claim verification pathways | Trace evidence chains |
| Contradiction maps | See where sources disagree |
| Evidence chains | Follow proof patterns |
| Framework comparisons | Compare approaches |
| Question-answer networks | Track inquiry paths |

### 2. Knowledge Graph Construction

Create navigable relationship models:
- Core concept clusters
- Evidence-claim networks
- Source relationship maps
- Temporal development patterns
- Framework overlaps
- Question exploration pathways

### 3. Narrative Pathways

Map exploration routes:
- Progressive depth pathways
- Contrasting perspective sequences
- Framework comparison journeys
- Evidence evaluation trails
- Concept development traces
- Question-driven routes

---

## Documentation Template

### Collection Metadata

```markdown
## Collection: [Name]

**Sources:** [Number and types]
**Date Range:** [Publication dates]
**Analysis Period:** [When analyzed]
**Primary Domains:** [Subject areas]
**Analysis Purpose:** [Intended use]
```

### Synthesis Element

```markdown
## [Element Type]: [Theme/Connection/Pattern]

**Sources:** [Contributing sources with locations]
**Evidence:** [Key supporting examples]
**Significance:** [Why this matters]
**Tensions:** [Contradictions or complications]
**Exploration Vectors:** [Further investigation directions]
```

---

## Application Guidelines

### Content Creation Support

For developing new content:
- Identify strongest evidence chains for claims
- Map contradictory perspectives for balance
- Locate terminological consensus for clarity
- Find conceptual bridges for interdisciplinary work
- Pinpoint high-value unanswered questions
- Trace intellectual lineages for attribution

### Research Direction Setting

For guiding investigation:
- Prioritize knowledge gaps by significance
- Identify promising conceptual connections
- Map methodological blind spots
- Locate perspective imbalances
- Find evidence weaknesses
- Discover emergent questions

### Library Organization

For structuring knowledge:
- Create concept-based navigation
- Develop claim verification structures
- Build perspective comparison frameworks
- Map evidence quality distributions
- Organize by question rather than topic
- Structure around insight clusters

---

## Anti-Patterns

### 1. Collection Without Curation
**Pattern:** Including all available sources without assessing their quality, relevance, or redundancy.
**Why it fails:** Bad sources contaminate synthesis. Redundant sources create false consensus. Irrelevant sources distract from patterns that matter.
**Fix:** Assess corpus composition explicitly. Remove low-quality sources. Weight sources by independence. Note when "multiple sources" are actually one source repeated.

### 2. Pattern Hallucination
**Pattern:** Finding patterns that exist only in the selection of sources, not in the underlying reality.
**Why it fails:** Confirmation bias shapes what sources you find. If you search for "X causes Y," you'll find sources discussing X and Y. That's not evidence of a pattern.
**Fix:** Actively seek disconfirming sources. Note absence of pattern where expected. Distinguish "all my sources agree" from "I selected sources that agree."

### 3. Averaging Instead of Mapping
**Pattern:** Synthesizing contradictory sources into a middle position—"the truth is somewhere between."
**Why it fails:** Contradictions often indicate real disagreement, not measurement error. The middle position may be held by no one and supported by no evidence.
**Fix:** Map contradictions explicitly. Understand why sources disagree. Present the landscape of positions rather than an artificial consensus.

### 4. Evidence Chain Collapse
**Pattern:** Citing a synthesis as if it were primary evidence, losing the chain back to original sources.
**Why it fails:** Meta-analysis is only as good as its sources. When the chain collapses, you can't evaluate reliability or identify where disagreement actually lies.
**Fix:** Maintain source-to-claim indices. Always know which original source supports which synthesis claim. Make verification pathways explicit.

### 5. Gap Neglect
**Pattern:** Focusing on what sources say without mapping what they don't say—the knowledge gaps and blind spots.
**Why it fails:** What's missing is often more important than what's present. Systematic gaps reveal biases, under-researched areas, and opportunities.
**Fix:** Explicitly map negative space. What questions do no sources address? What methodologies are absent? What perspectives are unrepresented?

## Integration

### Inbound (feeds into this skill)
| Skill | What it provides |
|-------|------------------|
| research | Individual source discovery and query expansion |
| claim-investigation | Verified individual claims for synthesis |
| fact-check | Quality-checked individual analyses |

### Outbound (this skill enables)
| Skill | What this provides |
|-------|-------------|
| research | Identified gaps for further investigation |
| (content creation) | Synthesized knowledge for original work |
| (knowledge organization) | Structure for information architecture |

### Complementary
| Skill | Relationship |
|-------|--------------|
| research | Research finds sources; meta-analysis synthesizes them. Use iteratively—synthesis reveals gaps that research fills |
| claim-investigation | Claim-investigation verifies individual claims; meta-analysis traces how claims connect across sources |