Research question: falsifiable in one sentence

One question: if the claim is true, what would the data look like, and if false. If you cannot tell them apart, there is no design.

Task: A grand research question that cannot be operationalised.

[Before you start, do three things]
1. Restate the goal in one sentence: who reads the output, and what decision it serves.
2. If I have not given you the following, ask me. Do not assume:
   - the gap in the literature
   - measurable variables
   - data sources
   - framework
3. Say how you plan to do it (at most 5 steps) and wait for my go-ahead.

[Go through each of these]
- phrase it as whether X affects Y, under what conditions
- one observation that would falsify it
- which variable is hardest to measure
- who benefits from the answer

[Process]
1. State the question as something falsifiable
2. Name the observation that separates true from false
3. Check whether sample, measurement and control can support it
4. List three things that could overturn it
5. State the scope

[Output]
Question, criterion, method, counter-evidence, scope.

[Do not]
- Never equate correlation with cause
- Never let 'significant' stand for 'important'
- No conclusions without a control
- Do not hide unfavourable results