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Hypotheses
The process of introducing a problem
Stimulate reader interest in the problem
Demonstrate the importance of the problem
Provide current status of the problem
Introduce any relevant theory examined in the
study
Place the study within the context of literature
Identify the population to study
Introductory section organization
Purpose statement
How you frame and state the research problem is
critical to the entire research project…it is the
foundation for the remainder of your work.
Clearly express the problem as a purpose statement
and/or research question(s) to be answered
Clearly state a hypothesis (if appropriate)
Form for the
problem statement
The problem statement can be written as either a
question or as a declarative statement
Research questions are interrogative sentences
They may be used following a general statement of
purpose to identify subproblems that will be
answered
Research questions are generally used in lieu of
hypotheses and indicate the use of nonexperimental
study designs
research questions can be used along with a general
statement of purpose to identify subproblems that will be
answered
The purpose of this study was to determine the
characteristics of students who use the Health and
Wellness Center five or more times per week.
What is the gender profile of students who use the HWC five
or more times per week?
What is the racial/ethnic profile of students who use the
HWC five or more times per week?
What is the BMI of students who use the HWC five or more
times per week?
What is the attitude toward wellness of those students who
use the HWC five or more times per week?
variables
Dependent Variable– the variable that is measured
or observed…outcome variable
Ask “What is dependent upon what?”
Independent Variable – variable being examined or
tested
Control Variable – variable whose potential to
impact the dependent variable has been removed or
“controlled for” by the study design or statistical
manipulation
What is a hypothesis?
Expresses the relationship between two or more
variables
States the predicted outcome of a test
A hypothesis can be tested (proved or disproved)
Directional and nondirectional hypotheses
Nondirectional hypotheses: predict a difference
between groups, but do not specify what the difference
might be
Null hypothesis (Ho ): statement of no difference
The means or scores are not different
Alternative hypothesis (Ha ): statement of difference
The means or scores are different in a predicted direction
examples
Nondirectional: There will be a difference in contraceptive
knowledge level of students that participated in an
abstinenceonly sexuality education program and the
contraceptive knowledge level of students who participated
in an abstinencebased sexuality education program.
Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in the
contraceptive knowledge level of students that participated
in an abstinenceonly sexuality education program and the
contraceptive knowledge level of students who participated
in an abstinencebased sexuality education program.
Alternative Hypothesis: The contraceptive knowledge
levels of students that participated in an abstinenceonly
sexuality education program will be lower than the
contraceptive knowledge level of students who participated
in an abstinencebased sexuality education program.
Hypothesis testing
Is the difference in contraceptive knowledge levels
between the two groups of students large enough to
convince us that it is the result of the differences
between the two types of education programs and not
simply chance or normal variation.
Most often test the null hypothesis (there is no
difference between the contraceptive knowledge levels
of the two groups)
Use statistical tests to determine the probability that
the null hypothesis is true
Hypothesis testing
Type I Error
Rejecting a true H0
Type II Error
Failure to reject a false H0
Note: a H0 is never “accepted”
pvalues
Standard is 5%
Timelines
Most research proposals include a fairly detailed
anticipated schedule for the planned research
project.
1.Create a list of all the steps from planning the
study through the dissemination of results
2.Create a calendar that shows when each of
these steps is expected to begin and end
3.Set deadlines along the way that will help
ensure that the project stays on track toward
timely completion
Part I: Article analysis
Problem or purpose?
Hypotheses ?
Nondirectional, null, or alternative
Dependent variable
Independent variable(s)
Part II: Your research question & timeline