What is the difference between a research question and a hypothesis?
Research Statement:
A remark about what the researcher wants to learn - without making a claim about what might be causing the issue at hand.
"We don't know why sales are declining so let's research the problem to find out."
Research Question:
A research statement in interrogative form. May be general or specific.
"Why are sales are declining?"
"Are sales declining because of competition?"
Research Hypothesis:
A conjectural statement about a relationship between two or more variables that can be tested with empirical data. A claim, or argument about your theory of what is causing "X" that you will research to prove or disprove:
"Sales are declining because of competition"