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lesson 8

The course aims to teach students how to develop research hypotheses, which are statements predicting the outcome of a study based on known facts or reasonable assumptions. A good hypothesis should be specific, clear, and testable, guiding the research process and minimizing bias. It also distinguishes between null, directional, and non-directional hypotheses, providing examples for each type.

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lesson 8

The course aims to teach students how to develop research hypotheses, which are statements predicting the outcome of a study based on known facts or reasonable assumptions. A good hypothesis should be specific, clear, and testable, guiding the research process and minimizing bias. It also distinguishes between null, directional, and non-directional hypotheses, providing examples for each type.

Uploaded by

9d6msywk2f
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Course 8

Objective : By the end of this course students will be able to develop research hypotheses .

Research hypotheses

Should you prefer to pose research hypotheses rather than research questions, you’ll need to rewrite
your questions as statements. A research hypothesis is a statement that introduces a research question and
proposes an expected result or outcome of a study . In other words , it is an idea or explanation for
something that is based on known facts or some reasonable assumptions but has not yet been proved or
tested .
Example 1 : Sleep impacts academic performance
→ This statement predicts that academic performance will be influenced by the amount or quality of
sleep a student engages in
→ This sounds reasonable enough . It is based on reasonable assumptions , but this is not enough . It
needs to be proved or tested .

The hypothesis should have three attributes

Specificity

Clarity

Testability

Example 2 : Students who sleep at least 8 hours per night will achieve higher grades in standardized
tests than students who sleep less than 8 hours at night .
→ It is very specific
→ It is clear because it identifies the variables involved ( sleep hours , test grades ) and the parties
involved ( two groups of students )
→ It can be tested by undertaking a quantitative study involving two groups of students with
different sleep hour and then compare the standardized test results for both groups .

Therefore , a research hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis in a statement about an expected


relationship between variables , or an explanation , that is clear , specific and testable
 A research hypothesis starts with a question a research is trying to answer . Once you have a clear
research question , you can formulate a hypothesis .
 It guides the research process and defines the variables and enhances objectivity ( to minimize the
research bias )
 It also promotes critical thinking

Null hypotheses :If you use null hypotheses, you’ll predict no difference between two or more
treatments or groups (e.g. There will be no difference between Groups A and B)
Directional hypotheses : If you use directional hypotheses, you’ll predict which treatment will do
better (e.g. Groups A and B will outperform Group C). Directional hypotheses are preferred because they
show that you have thought about your topic sufficiently to make well-supported predictions. They specify
the direction of the relationship between independent and dependent variables .
Eg : Cardiac patient who receive support from former patients have less anxiety and higher self-
efficacy than other patients
Non-directional hypotheses : Shows the existence of a relationship between variables but no
direction is specified
Eg : There is a difference in anxiety and self-efficacy between cardiac patients who receive support
from former patients and those who do not .

Exercise : formulate a null hypothesis , a directional hypothesis and a non- directional hypothesis for
the topic of Sleep impacts acade mic performance

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