HYPOTHESIS
There is no correlation between liberation of
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS attitudes and completion of a course in human
A statement of expectation or prediction that will be tested sexuality.
by research.
Before formulating your research hypothesis, ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS
read about the topic of interest to you. These are operational statements of the hypotheses,
An assumption and/or an idea that is proposed for the meaning they actually state the precise behaviors or
sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might responses that are going to be used to measure the
be true. variable under investigation(Searle, 2000).
In the scientific method, the hypothesis is constructed It’s a statement that you or another researcher) thinks is
before any applicable research has been done, apart from true and one that can ultimately lead you to reject the null
a basic background review. hypothesis and replace it with the alternate hypothesis.
A prediction about the relationship between two or more Example:
variables. If your null is “I'm going to win up to $1,000” then
your alternate is “I'm going to win $1,000 or
WHY IS HYPOTHESIS IMPORTANT IN RESEARCH? more.” Basically, you're looking at whether
A hypothesis enables researchers not only to discover a there's enough change (with the alternate
relationship between variables, but also to predict a hypothesis) to be able to reject the null
relationship based on theoretical guidelines and/or hypothesis.
empirical evidence.
Developing a hypothesis requires a comprehensive OTHER TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS
understanding of the research topic and an exhaustive There are also other types such as:
review of previous literature. 1. Simple Hypothesis
2. Complex Hypothesis
HOW TO WRITE HYPOTHESIS IN RESEARCH 3. Directional Hypothesis
Predicts the relationship and outcome. 4. Non-directional Hypothesis
Simple and concise – avoid wordiness.
Remember!
Clear with no ambiguity or assumptions about the readers'
A hypothesis test can either contain a directional hypothesis or
knowledge.
a non-directional hypothesis.
Observable and testable results.
Relevant and specific to the research question or problem.
SIMPLE HYPOTHESIS
Expected relationship between one independent and one
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD HYPOTHESIS
dependent variable.
It includes the following characteristics:
Predicts the relationship between a single dependent
1. Easily Understood
variable and a single independent variable.
2. Specific
3. Conceptually Clear
4. Concise Language COMPLEX HYPOTHESIS
5. Can be Tangibly Measured Prediction of relationship between two /more IV and/or
two/more DV.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF HYPOTHESIS A complex hypothesis describes a relationship between
variables. However, it’s a relationship between two or
There are different types and classifications which
more independent variables and two or more dependent
includes:
variables.
1. Research Hypotheses
o Also known as Substantive, Declarative,
and Scientific Hypotheses DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS
2. Null Hypotheses Specifies not only the existence but also the expected
o Also known as Statistical Hypotheses direction of the relationship between variables.
3. Alternative Hypotheses The alternative hypothesis contains the less than (“<“) or
o Also known as Experimental greater than (“>”) sign.
This indicates that we’re testing whether or not
Hypotheses
there is a positive or negative effect.
Also known as one-tailed tests
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
Statements of expected relationships between variables.
NON-DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS
A statement that introduces a research question and
Does not stipulate the direction of the relationship.
proposes an expected result.
The alternative hypothesis contains the not equal (“≠”)
The statement created by researchers when they
sign.
speculate upon the outcome of a research or experiment.
This indicates that we’re testing whether or not
Educated, expected prediction of the outcome of a study
there is some effect, without specifying the
that is testable.
direction of the effect.
Example:
A non-directional hypothesis is a two-tailed hypothesis that
There will be a correlation between liberalization
does not predict the direction of the difference or
of attitudes and completion of a course in human
relationship (e.g. girls and boys are different in terms of
sexuality.
helpfulness).
Also known as two-tailed tests
NULL HYPOTHESIS
It states that there is no relationship between the
independent and dependent variables.
A type of statistical hypothesis that proposes that no
statistical significance exists in a set of given observations.
It is the opposite of the alternate hypothesis.
A comprehensive statement or default status that there is
zero happening or nothing happening.
Example:
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E X A M P L E S
There is a relationship between the
Research
woman’s walking during labor and
Hypothesis
the duration of the first stage of labor
There is no relationship between the
Null Hypothesis woman’s walking during labor and
the duration of the first stage of labor
The duration of the first stage of
labor of women who walk during
Alternative
labor is shorter than the duration of
Hypothesis
the first stage of labor of women who
do not walk during labor.
Performance in the College of
Simple
Nursing is related to success in the
Hypothesis
Nurses’ Licensure Examination
Heredity, home environment, and
Complex quality of instruction are related to
Hypothesis intelligence, motivation, and
performance in school.
People who smoke are more prone
to lung cancer than those who do
Directional not smoke.
Hypothesis Older patients are more at risk for
experiencing a fall than younger
patients
There is a difference in the level of
anxiety of pre-surgical patients who
Non-directional
receive pre-operative instruction
Hypothesis
than those who do not receive such
instruction.
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