Distinguishing between 'HYPOTHESIS' and 'RESEARCH QUESTION' in legal research methodology:

1. RESEARCH QUESTION is the formulation of what the research seeks to discover, typically expressed as an interrogative sentence ('How does X affect Y?'). 2. HYPOTHESIS is a tentative answer or proposition — a testable statement of the expected relationship ('X has a positive effect on Y' or 'A new policy of X will lead to reduction in Y'). 3. In DOCTRINAL legal research, hypothesis-formation may be less central than in social science research. 4. The hypothesis must be: (i) SPECIFIC; (ii) TESTABLE; (iii) FALSIFIABLE (Popper); (iv) RELEVANT. 5. Hence option B is correct. _Source: Legal Research Methodology + Jurisprudence — Standard research methodology_