An hypothesis is a preliminary or tentative explanation or postulate by the researcher of what the

researcher considers the outcome of an investigation will be. It is an informed/educated guess.

It indicates the expectations of the researcher regarding certain variables. It is the most specific way
in which an answer to a problem can be stated.

THE PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF AN HYPOTHESIS

• It offers explanations for the relationships between those variables that can be empirically
tested.
• It furnishes proof that the researcher has suffucient background knowledge to enable
him/her to make suggestions in order to extend existing knowledge.
• It gives direction to an investigation.
• It structures the next phase in the investigation and therefore furnishes continuity to the
examination of the problem.

Hypotheses can be classified in terms of their derivation (inductive and deductive hypotheses) and in
terms of their formulation (research - directional and non-directional and statistical or null
hypotheses).

• RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

A research hypothesis is defined as the statement which has been created by the
researcher when they speculate upon the outcome of a research or an
experiment. It is also provides the explanation of an observable phenomenon.

It defines the relationship between the variables and indicates the nature of
relationship.

Null hypothesis

A type of hypothesis used in statistics that proposes that no statistical significance exists in a set
of given observations. The null hypothesis attempts to show that no variation exists between
variables, or that a single variable is no different than zero. It is presumed to be true until
statistical evidence nullifies it for an alternative hypothesis.

The statistical hypothesis that one variable (e.g. whether or not a study participant was
allocated to receive an intervention) has no association with another variable or set of
variables (e.g. whether or not a study participant died), or that two or more population
distributions do not differ from one another. In simplest terms, the null hypothesis states
that the results observed in a study are no different from what might have occurred as a
result of the play of chance.