Research question
The specific, answerable question a study sets out to address, narrow enough that you can tell whether you answered it.
A research question converts a topic into a project. “Social media and attention” is a topic; “Does time spent on short-form video predict sustained-attention performance in undergraduates?” is a question — it names the population, the variables, and the relationship, so it can be answered and shown to be answered.
Everything downstream depends on it: the search terms, the method, the analysis, and the shape of the argument. Vague questions produce papers that never quite conclude.
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See also
Thesis statementOne or two sentences stating the argument a paper will make — a claim someone could disagree with, not a description of the topic.HypothesisA testable, falsifiable prediction about the relationship between variables, stated before the data is analysed.Literature reviewA synthesis of the existing research on a question, organised by theme or argument rather than as a list of studies.