Startup Validation term
Research question: meaning, examples, and expert terminology.
Turns vague curiosity into a testable learning target.
What it means
Plain meaning
Turns vague curiosity into a testable learning target.
Aliases
learning question, investigation question
People say / experts say
People usually say
- need to understand
- research
- market
- what to learn
- customer
- why they use
Experts usually say
Research question, Hypothesis, Interview guide, Evidence standard
When to use it
Use it when
Your rough ask sounds like: need to understand, research, market. The term gives your research assistant a clearer problem shape.
When not to use it
Do not use this term to seek approval for an idea. Use it when you need evidence, assumptions, decision criteria, or behavior-based learning.
Copy-ready handoff phrase
Before and after examples
Prompt upgrade
Weak ask: Validate this need to understand.
Exact Terms ask: Convert this into research questions that can be answered through interviews, desk research, or usage data.
Handoff examples by use case
Research prompt
Turn this idea into research using Research question and adjacent concepts: Hypothesis, Interview guide, Evidence standard. Separate assumptions, evidence, and decision criteria.
Interview prompt
Write behavior-first customer questions that test Research question without leading the participant.
Decision prompt
Define the evidence required to decide whether Research question is strong enough to continue, change direction, or stop.
Common mistake
What goes wrong
Asking whether an idea is good before defining the assumption and evidence standard.
Better move
Use Research question with the related vocabulary trail: Hypothesis, Interview guide, Evidence standard.
Related terms
Missing a better term?
Turn feedback into vocabulary
If this page almost names your problem but misses the exact term, send the rough phrase and the term you expected. Accepted feedback becomes a better trigger, explanation, comparison page, or new term.