Hypothesis

Hypothesis

1. What is it?

   • An educated guess or a proposed answer to a statement or research question
   • Proposes a possible explanation for an occurrence

2. How is it formulated?

   • stated clearly and concisely
   • it expresses the relationship between two or more variables
   • It is testable!
   • Two different approaches to formulate the hypothesis
     • Inductive reasoning
       • Observation
         • You make a generalization based on relationships you have observed
     • Deductive reasoning
       • Theory
         • You start with a theory and then you predict how it can be applied to a specific situation

3. The two types of hypotheses

   • Research Hypothesis
     • A scientific or research hypothesis that states the predicted outcome of the test
     • Also called the alternative hypothesis (H1)
   • Null Hypothesis
     • States that there is no relationship between variables
     • Symbolized as H0
     • If the null hypothesis is rejected, than the alternative hypothesis is accepted as true