Best practices for research papers, theses, and dissertations: structure, citation accuracy, tone, and revision habits that survive peer review.
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A question, a hypothesis, and a thesis statement do three different jobs, and a paper only needs the ones that match what it is actually trying to do. This sorts out which combination fits a quantitative study, a qualitative one, and an argumentative paper.
APA says spell it out. Chicago says it depends on the discipline. MLA says nothing is wrong with it at all. What three major style guides actually say about contractions, and why the real fix for stiff prose is not adding them back in.
Harvard is not one style with one rulebook. Cite Them Right is a specific, published implementation of the Harvard family, which is why two students both told to use Harvard can submit different-looking references and both be right.
Most students are taught that academic writing has to hide the author entirely. APA Style's own guidance says the opposite, calls the belief a myth by name, and draws a different line than the one most classrooms teach.
The same topic can genuinely become six different studies depending on how the question is phrased. This works through all six types, descriptive to evaluative, with a real worked example and the method each one commits you to.
Turabian is Chicago, repackaged for students by Kate Turabian and published by the same press. Here is what Turabian actually strips out, what it adds, both manuals' current editions, and which of Chicago's two citation systems your field actually uses.