<p>I answer my question with a summary which incorporates advice from the comments and further reflection:</p>
<ul>
<li>If a question seems too broad/includes many sub-questions, it's better to flag it as lacking focus, even if some sub-questions already have answers. This provides helpful feedback to the OP and encourages them to write questions in a better way.</li>
<li>The &quot;is a duplicate&quot; option is meant for close duplicates. This is helpful not only to the OP but to anyone who happens upon the question later on looking for specific information/answers and doesn't need &quot;context&quot;.<sup>⭑</sup></li>
<li>Related threads are best linked to in a comment. Yes, not everyone reads comments but there is probably overlap between those who read comments and those who would be interested in reading more on the topic in question.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>⭑ By happy coincidence, today someone <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/602205/237901">asked</a> about exploratory vs confirmatory analysis. They didn't find the broad thread useful even though it contains the answer to this much more specific question (somewhere, if you read everything). But I happened to know that a nice <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/a/354538/237901">answer</a> from @Ben discusses the exploratory vs confirmatory aspect, so I voted to close as a duplicate. Worked very well actually.</p>
