3.
Hypothesis Development
Developing Working Hypothesis
• Hypothesis is tentative assumption made in order to
draw out and test its logical or empirical
consequences.
• It is the researcher’s anticipated explanation or
opinion regarding the result of the study.
• It is unproven proposition or possible solution to a
problem.
• Hypotheses are always in a declarative sentence
form.
Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis
i. A hypothesis must be precise and clear
ii. It must be capable of being put to test. A
hypothesis is tested if other deductions can be
made from it, which in turn can be confirmed or
disproved by observation.
iii. Hypothesis must state relationship between two
variable, in the case of relational hypotheses.
iv. A hypothesis must be specific and limited in scope.
Good Hypothesis...
• A hypothesis must be stated in the most simple
language, so as to make it understood by all
concerned. (However, simplicity a hypothesis is not
related to its significance).
• A hypothesis must be consistent and derived from
the most known facts.
• It must be amenable to testing within a stipulated or
reasonable period of time.
• A hypothesis should state the facts that gave rise to
the necessity of looking for an explanation.
Examples of Hypotheses
• Agricultural output is related to the level of
education among farmers in the highland region of
Kenya
• Students who take tuitions perform better than the
others who do not receive tuitions
• The female students perform as well as the male
students in Electrical Engineering in Kenyan
universities.
Role of Hypotheses
• Provide direction- bridge the gap between the
problem and the evidence needed for its solution.
• Ensure collection of evidence to answer the question
proposed in the statement problem.
• Enable the investigator to assess the information
collected from the standpoint of both relevance and
organisation.
• Provide a framework for organising conclusions.
• Give guidance on the choice of methodology.
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
• In the context of statistical analysis, hypotheses are
of two types: Null hypothesis and alternative
hypothesis.
• When two methods A and B are compared on their
relative superiority and it is assumed that both the
methods are equally good, then such a statement is
called as the null hypothesis.
• On the other hand, if method A is considered
relatively superior to method B, or vice versa, then
such as statement is known as an alternative
hypothesis
Null Hypothesis
• The null hypothesis makes a prediction that in the
general population no correlation or difference
exists between groups of variables.
• The null hypothesis represents the traditional
approach to writing hypotheses.
• The null hypothesis is expressed as H0
Null Hypothesis Example
• If a researcher wants to test the hypothesis that the
population mean () is equal to the sample mean
(x=100) then the null hypothesis should be stated
as:
“the population mean is equal to the sample mean
100”
• Symbolically:
H0: = x =100
Null Hypothesis Example...
• If the results do not support this null hypothesis,
then it should be concluded that something else is
true.
• The conclusion of rejecting the null hypothesis is
called the alternative hypothesis.
Alternative Hypothesis
• The alternative to the null hypothesis is termed as
the alternative hypothesis, expressed as H1
• If H0 is accepted, then it implies that H1 is being
rejected.
• If H0 is rejected, it means that H1 is being accepted.
• For H0 : = x =100, three possible alternative
hypotheses may be considered:
Alternative Hypothesis...
Alternative hypothesis To be read as follows
H1 : = x The alternative hypothesis is
that the population mean is not
equal to 100. It could be
greater than or less than 100
H1 : x The alternative hypothesis is
that the population mean is
greater than 100
H1 : x The alternative hypothesis is
that the population mean is
less than 100
When Formulating Hypothesis
• The null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis
are chosen before the sample is drawn (the
researcher must avoid the error of deriving
hypotheses from the data that he collects and then
testing the hypotheses from the same data).
• When formulating the null hypothesis, the following
aspects need to be considered:
When Formulating Hypothesis...
a) Alternative hypothesis is usually the one which one
wishes to prove and the null hypothesis is the one
which one wishes to disprove. Thus, a null
hypothesis represents the hypothesis we are trying
to reject, and alternative hypothesis represents all
other possibilities.
b) If the rejection of a certain hypothesis when it is
actually true involves great risk, it is taken as null
hypothesis because then the probability of rejecting
it when it is true is (the level of significance)
which is chosen very small.
When Formulating Hypothesis...
c) Null hypothesis should always be specific
hypothesis i.e., it should not state about or
approximately a certain value.
Generally, in hypothesis testing we proceed on the
basis of null hypothesis, keeping the alternative
hypothesis in view.
