3. Hypotheses
- 1. Q: What is a hypothesis? A: A testable statement.
- 2. Any hypothesis should fulfill three criteria: It should predict that a difference would occur between the IV conditions. It should be a precise statement that contains the IV and DV. It should be open to being disproved or refuted.
- 3. e.g. Reading schemes will significantly improve reading. Using the word ‘significant’ dismisses the possibility that the improvement occurred by chance. Any hypothesis that predicts a significant difference or association will occur between variables is referred to as the research hypothesis (or Experimental/Alternative Hypothesis).
- 4. Non-directional (two tailed) Far more general, it doesn’t predict a certain direction, only that there will be a difference e.g. uses words such as affect, influence, difference. There are two types of research hypothesis: Directional (one tailed hypotheses) Predict a certain direction, e.g. uses words such as improves, more, decrease.
- 5. For each of the research (alternative) hypotheses below state whether they are directional or non directional (one or two tailed). Age significantly decreases our ability to learn new things. Anxiety will have a significant influence on performance. Vandalism will rise significantly with overcrowding. Alcohol consumption will have a significant effect on your heart. Vitamins will significantly boost IQ Men drive significantly differently to females. Activity:
- 6. The Null Hypothesis Always predicts that any difference or relationship between variables will not be significant but due to chance. Every Research Hypothesis has it’s own Null Hypothesis. A suitable Null Hypothesis for the reading scheme example would be: Reading schemes will not significantly improve reading ability and any difference is due to chance.
- 7. Activity: Working in pairs: Cardwell AS level, Page 195 . -Write a Research Hypothesis and a Null Hypothesis for examples 1, 2, and 4 -State whether the Research Hypothesis you have written is directional or non-directional.