LittleDan's original research idea is excellent (as are nearly all of his observations) - and Brian's further idea for a separate implementation is spot on! Many of us have had this idea - the question is implementation. Thinking about it a bit - the idea should be rather explicit - (under a general heading of course) and notarized as being the property "of the imaginer". But it should also be open as a wiki to allow for dynamic, and direct collaboration - at a brainstorming level!
This would be ideal for all involved - but an important point to make is that while the categories linking to subjects could be guides to these detailed synopses - the material itself is essentially entirely user-pages! Just like we like to have our own cheezy crap on WP as a /after to our own usernames - This would be entirely that - Just userpages with their particular spews and rants and notions and LD50 test records online - Each user should also have ban priveliges for those pages - in case someone gets nuts or personal. The all of those LarrySanger/pages can have a home... :)
OR: WP gets loosened up - we use the WP as both encyclopedia and research platform - as well as a blog/links page/ file storage/Bomis babe report clippings.. etc... Just kidding... the problem with the meta is that its tied to the WP in terms of purpose - and its under GFDL. Intellectual property - or potential ip should be dealt with as such - and the site that implements that kind of thing should act in some ways like a notary public. -Steven H. Vertigo