Research Methodology

R E S E A R C H M E T H O D O L O G Y
CHAPTER # 5:
“Constructing Hypothesis”
by
Muhammad Salman Jamil

The Definition of Hypothesis
 Hypothesis is considered as 2nd most important phase
after formulation of research problem / identification.
 It is considered as a supposition or proposed
explanation based on limited evidence as its starting
point for further investigation.
 It is a proposition on the base of reasoning, without
assumption of truth in any argument.
 It is also considered as the antecedent of a conditional
proposition or a mere assumption or guess or
suspicion, assertion or an idea about a phenomenon,
relationship or situation, the reality or truth of which
you do not know
 The importance of hypotheses lies in their ability to
bring direction, specificity and focus to a research
study. 2

Some Quotes about
Hypothesis
 “A hypothesis is a conjectural statement of the
relationship between two or more variables”
(Kerlinger, 1986: 17).
 “A tentative statement about something, the validity of
which is usually unknown” (Black & Champion, 1976:
126)
 “A proposition that is stated in a testable form and that
predicts a particular relationship between two (or
more) variables. In other words, if we think that a
relationship exists, we first state it as a hypothesis
and then test the hypothesis in the field” (Bailey, 1978:
35).
 “A hypothesis is written in such a way that it can be
proven or disproven by valid and reliable data – it is in
order to obtain these data that we perform our study”
(Grinell, 1988: 200) 3

Functions of Hypothesis
 The formulation of a hypothesis provides a study with
focus. It tells you what specific aspects of a research
problem to investigate.
 A hypothesis tells you what data to collect and what not to
collect, thereby providing focus to the study.
 The construction of a hypothesis enhances objectivity in a
study.
 A hypothesis may enable you to add to the formulation of
theory. It enables you to conclude specifically what is true
or what is false.
4

The testing of a hypothesis
Below steps to follow for testing of hypothesis are
Constructing a hypothesis, Gathering appropriate evidence &
Analyzing evidence to draw conclusions as to its validity
 There is need of proper evidence whether statement true
or false.
 It is really crucial that it required formulation your
hypotheses clearly, precisely & testable
 Other essential part in terms of study design, sampling,
data collection method(s), data analysis tools & it should
free from any bias.
5

Characteristics of Hypothesis-
Attributes
1) A hypothesis should be simple, specific and
conceptually clear it means that its not ambiguous and
uni-dimensional. It also require clarity of subject area
to have such characteristics.
2) A hypothesis should be capable of verification require
that methods & technique should verify accordingly,
but its not necessary that verification would done.
3) A hypothesis should be related to the existing body of
knowledge, as the purpose of asking these statement
in research for sake of increasing body of knowledge.
4) A hypothesis should be operationalizable This means
that it should be measurable, if its not then it cant be
test and conclusion would not be drawn. So, it won’t
be any use & purpose would not achieve.
6

Types of Hypothesis
Broadly, there are two categories of hypothesis:
 Research Hypothesis: Its about the value of a
population parameter represented by H0. Its always
stated as an Equality
 Alternate Hypothesis: It’s a statement about the value
of a population parameter that must be true if the null
hypothesis is false. It represented by H1&stated in on of
three forms >,<, 
7

 Hypothesis in which a researcher stipulates that there
will be a difference but does not specify its magnitude
is called a hypothesis of difference.
 Point prevalence is the number of persons with
disease in a time interval (eg, one year) divided by
number of persons in the population.
 Hypothesis require the extent of the relationship in
terms of the effect of different groups on the
dependent variable or the prevalence of a
phenomenon in different population groups is called a
hypothesis of association.
8

Error in testing a
hypothesis
 Study design selected is faulty
 Sampling procedure adopted is faulty
 Method of data collection is inaccurate
 Analysis is wrong
 Statistical procedures applied are inappropriate
 Conclusions drawn are incorrect.
9
When Null
is rejected
& its true
Acceptance
of Null
when its
false

Hypothesis in Qualitative Research
 In Qualitative research the construction of hypotheses
is neither supporter nor practiced.
 The testing of a hypothesis becomes difficult and
meaningless.
 There is need to give importance towards the practice
of formulating hypotheses rather than consider of other
negative aspects.
 The main purpose of hypothesis in such researches to
highlight the prevailing phenomena and then it narrow
down by cause & effect relationship.
 It is merely dependent on the researcher that which
discipline it choose between the quantitative and
qualitative research paradigms.
10

Research Methodology

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