Hypothesis, Characteristics, and Types

 

Writing a hypothesis is one of the essential elements of a research paper. It needs to be to the point, clearly communicating what your research is trying to accomplish. A blurry, drawn-out, or complexly structured hypothesis can confuse the readers. Or worse, the editor and peer reviewers.

Hypothesis

Hypothesis refers to the assumptions that predicts a correlation between two test variables: an independent and a dependent variable. It is also called logic against logic.

Characteristics of Hypothesis

Following are the characteristics of the hypothesis:

1.    The hypothesis should be clear and precise to consider it to be reliable.

2.    If the hypothesis is a relational hypothesis, then it should be stating the relationship between variables.

3.    The hypothesis must be specific and should have scope for conducting more tests.

4.    The way of explanation of the hypothesis must be very simple and it should also be understood that the simplicity of the hypothesis is not related to its significance.

Types of Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis

A null hypothesis will predict that there will be no significant relationship between the two test variables. The symbol is denoted by “H₀”. For example, you can say that “The study will show that there is no correlation between marriage and happiness.”

A good way to think about a null hypothesis is to think of it in the same way as “innocent until proven guilty”. Unless you can come up with evidence otherwise, your null hypothesis will stand.

A null hypothesis may also highlight that a correlation will be inconclusive. This means that you can predict that the study will not be able to confirm your results one way or the other. For example, you can say “It is predicted that the study will be unable to confirm a correlation between the two variables due to foreseeable interference by a third variable.”

Beware that an inconclusive null hypothesis may be questioned by your teacher. Why would you conduct a test that you predict will not provide a clear result? Perhaps you should take a closer look at your methodology and re-examine it. Nevertheless, inconclusive null hypotheses can sometimes have merit.

Alternative Hypothesis

An alternative hypothesis is a hypothesis that is anything other than the null hypothesis. It will disprove the null hypothesis. We use the symbol HA or H1 to denote an alternative hypothesis.

A good alternative hypothesis example is “Attending physiotherapy sessions improves athletes' on-field performance.” or “Water evaporates at 100°C.”

The alternative hypothesis further branches into directional and non-directional.

·       Directional hypothesis: A hypothesis that states the result would be either positive or negative is called directional hypothesis. It accompanies H1 with either the ‘<' or ‘>' sign.

·       Non-directional hypothesis: A non-directional hypothesis only claims an effect on the dependent variable. It does not clarify whether the result would be positive or negative. The sign for a non-directional hypothesis is ‘≠.'

A well-formed hypothesis is the linchpin of scientific inquiry and research papers. It plays a fundamental role in setting the direction and purpose of the study. Whether null or alternative, a hypothesis should exhibit clarity, precision, and direct relevance to the research objectives.