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Hypotheses and Assumptions

The document discusses research hypotheses in quantitative research. It defines a hypothesis as a tentative proposition about the relationship between two or more variables being tested in a study. A good hypothesis should be falsifiable, predictable, simple, specific, based on existing research, and operationally defined so it can be measured. There are two main types of quantitative research hypotheses: the null hypothesis, which proposes no relationship between variables, and the alternative hypothesis, which proposes a relationship. Hypotheses can also be directional, predicting the direction of a relationship, or nondirectional, predicting only that a relationship exists without a direction.

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336 views

Hypotheses and Assumptions

The document discusses research hypotheses in quantitative research. It defines a hypothesis as a tentative proposition about the relationship between two or more variables being tested in a study. A good hypothesis should be falsifiable, predictable, simple, specific, based on existing research, and operationally defined so it can be measured. There are two main types of quantitative research hypotheses: the null hypothesis, which proposes no relationship between variables, and the alternative hypothesis, which proposes a relationship. Hypotheses can also be directional, predicting the direction of a relationship, or nondirectional, predicting only that a relationship exists without a direction.

Uploaded by

Julieta Carcole
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Research Hypothesis In the above activity, your guess is based on your assumptions physically or some

other factors. However, a hypothesis is something different. Hence, the premise of a study is more than
just an educated guess. It is your assumption about the variables being explored in the study. Since you
should be able to identify the different variables, the assumptions you would be formulating should be
tested by gathering relevant data and analyzing the results to find out whether it will be refuted or
validated. If this process of testing the hypothesis will be skipped, you, as the researcher, will not be able
to verify whether your hunch about a certain phenomenon is correct. Therefore, formulating and
thinking about a valid hypothesis brings direction to your study.

Formulating Hypothesis for Quantitative Research Kumar (2011) have identified different vital features
of a research hypothesis. The following are the features he proposed: 1. It is a tentative proposition. 2.
Its validity is unknown. 3. In most cases, it specifies a relationship between two or more variables. The
features presented above suggest that a hypothesis is tentative because it is yet to be tested. Thus, its
validity is still unknown because the researcher might arrive at a different conclusion. Finally, a
hypothesis most likely explores the relationship between two or more variables that are considered as
the main interest of the study.

Characteristics of a Hypothesis In formulating a good hypothesis, the following characteristics must be


considered (Marczyk et al. 2005; Kumar 2011).

● A hypothesis should be falsifiable. For a hypothesis to be considered as falsifiable, it should be capable


of being disproved, given the results of the study. The research study would not be considered empirical
if your hypothesis could be refuted.

● A hypothesis should be predictable. A hypothesis must be able to predict relationships among two or
more variables. This can be done by conducting data gathering procedures and analyzing the results of
the data.

●A hypothesis should be simple and specific. To avoid misinterpretations in the research study, you
should state the hypothesis as simple as possible. Moreover, a hypothesis must test only one
assumption at a time. This means that you must not present more than one idea in a hypothesis.

● A hypothesis should be based on an existing body of knowledge. The research must be able to address
a research gap in the existing body of knowledge or theories that are already established. This is one of
the main functions of a research study that will only be possible if the hypothesis is backed by pieces of
evidence.

● A hypothesis should be capable of being operationally defined. This means that it should be capable of
being measured. The research study cannot be concluded if a hypothesis cannot be tested.

● A hypothesis should be reflective of the research problem. The argument and interest of the study
must be clearly expressed in the research hypothesis. It should also point out the variables used in the
study.

Types of Quantitative Research Hypothesis Plano Clark and Creswell (2015) explained that there are two
types of research hypotheses in quantitative research: First, is the null hypothesis (denoted by Ho or
H0 ), and the other is the alternative hypothesis (Ha or H1 ). The null hypothesis is an assumption
wherein there is no difference or no relationship between the dependent and independent variables. On
the other hand, the alternative hypothesis indicates a change in direction, wherein there is a difference
or relationship between the variables being investigated.

It is important for you to keep in mind that the null hypothesis is the one being tested, which can either
be rejected or retained. When a null hypothesis is rejected, this means that there is a difference
between the variables being investigated. On the other hand, if you fail to reject the null hypothesis, this
means that the alternative hypothesis should be rejected. Marczyk, DeMatteo, and Festinger (2005)
proposed a second category of a research hypothesis, namely: the directional hypothesis and
nondirectional hypothesis. Since the null hypothesis indicates that there is no relationship between the
variables being studied, only the alternative hypothesis can be classified as directional or nondirectional.
In these presented categories, using relevant literature about your study will guide you in properly to
use a directional or nondirectional hypothesis. A nondirectional hypothesis will be used if you believe
that the variables being tested will differ, but cannot determine which direction the variables will pan. In
contrast, researchers use a directional hypothesis if the groups being studied will differ and have a
particular direction in mind regarding how the variables will pan.

Formulating Hypothesis for Quantitative Research Examples: Directional Hypothesis: Female students of
ABC Academy receive higher scores in the college entrance examinations than male students do.
Nondirectional Hypothesis: Students of ABC Academy receive high scores in the college entrance
examinations. Directional Hypothesis: Normal alkaline phosphatase enzyme reacts best at optimum pH
10 more than mutated alkaline phosphatase does. Nondirectional Hypothesis: Normal and mutated
alkaline phosphatase reacts differently at optimum pH 10.

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