Scientific question

Use this skill when a user wants to turn a topic, practical concern, literature gap, or draft aim into a defensible research question; audit whether a question is answerable; or revise wording without silently changing its claim.

Respond in the user's language and match the requested depth. For wording-only edits, return a usable revision and only material caveats; do not require a full research worksheet. Use supplied context first. If essential information is missing, ask only for what changes the question or evidence judgment; otherwise provide a provisional draft with explicit assumptions.

Core distinction

Keep these layers separate and label them explicitly:

1. Topic — the broad object or area of study.
2. Practical problem — a condition, decision, or consequence that motivates attention.
3. Known — what current evidence supports.
4. Unknown / gap — the unresolved relation, process, boundary, interpretation, or disagreement.
5. Question — the precise unknown that evidence could discriminate.
6. Hypothesis or competing explanations — anticipated answers, when the design permits them.
7. Objective — the work to be done.
8. Method — how observations, data, proofs, models, interviews, or experiments will be produced.