Contribution and research question
- What is the single most important contribution of this work?
- Why is this research question worth answering now?
- How does your conclusion change what the field already believed?
- Which part of the contribution is theoretical, methodological, or practical?
Methods and evidence
- Why was this method the best fit for the question?
- How did you establish the validity and reliability of the measures?
- What selection bias or confounding variable concerns you most?
- How sensitive are the results to your main analytical choices?
- What evidence would falsify your preferred explanation?
Limitations and interpretation
- Which limitation most restricts the conclusion?
- Are you making a causal claim or an associational claim?
- To what populations or settings should these findings not be generalized?
- How do you explain the result that did not fit your hypothesis?
Literature, alternatives, and next research
For each question, begin with the claim you can defend, point to the relevant evidence, and acknowledge the boundary. A limitation is not a confession of failure; it shows that you know exactly what the study can and cannot establish.
- Which competing theory explains the findings most convincingly?
- Which scholar is most likely to disagree with your interpretation?
- What would you redesign if you started the study again?
- What is the next study that must be done?