论文各部分内容的作用不同，它们各司其职，从不同角度呈现研究。但同时，又有不少概念让作者们感觉困惑，比如：Abstract 和 Introduction 有何区别？figure captions，labels 以及 legends 是同一个概念吗？在这个系列中，意得辑作者 Fatima 就论文中常见的易混淆概念进行详细辨析。
第五期：research question 和 research problem
A research problem is a broad issue that you would like to address through your research. It identifies a difficulty, doubt, or an area of concern, in theory or in practice, that requires thought and investigation. It is an anomaly, a limitation, or a troubling question in the real world that needs to be addressed. You can break your research problem into smaller questions that will help you move towards solving the problem.
研究大问题 (research problem) 是个宽泛的话题，它讨论那些值得一说的难题，现实层面和理论层面的都有。现实生活中所受的限制和阻碍，反常现象，和棘手的问题都在讨论范围内。把研究大问题分解成几个小问题有助于最终解决问题。Now let us understand what a research question is. A research question is the specific concern that you will answer through your research. It is derived from your research problem but is based on your study design. When you narrow down your research problem to a specific idea that points towards a feasible way to investigate or address your research problem, you get your research question. Specifying your research question is the first step in the direction of actually solving your research problem. You can then formulate the aim of your study based on your research question and accordingly decide the objectives of your research.这些被分解出来的问题我们称为研究小问题 (research question)，相对具象。小问题基于实验设计，并与大问题密切相关。把概念性的大问题转化成实验的过程中就有了小问题。解决大问题的第一步是明确小问题，有了小问题就能制定研究目标，也就有了研究内容。