Aims and Hypothesis Flashcards
what are the types of research aims?
describe
- detail characteristics and features of a particular area
e.g., case studies
evaluate
- investigate impact of an intervention or an outcome
e.g., experimental studies
review
- aggregate results of many studies to evaluate evidence in a field
e.g., meta analysis
how to generate research aims?
- interest in a particular field
- understand/review of literature
- identify gaps in knowledge
- should contribute in some way
writing research aims
- part of the introduction of research report or paper
- review of the literature, building to the gap your research aims fill
- tell reader why they should care
what is a research hypothesis?
prediction about results or expected effect
this is made before collecting data
can describe direction of relationship, but not always
describe relationship between variables
what is causality?
the idea that one thing causes another
variables can be related to each other, but this does not necessarily follow that one thing causes another
what is a directional, causal hypothesis?
states that something causes a particular effect in a specific direction
what is a directional, non causal hypothesis?
associated with a particular effect in a specific direction, but does not cause the effect
what is a non directional, causal hypothesis?
something causes an effect, but not in any specific direction
what is a non directional, non causal hypothesis
associated with an effect, but not in any specific direction
null hypothesis vs alternative hypothesis
alternate hypothesis
- when we predict a specific outcome or effect
null hypothesis
- prediction of no effect
when conducting stats tests, we test how likely our data is if the null hypothesis were true
what makes a good theory/hypothesis
- supported by data
- falsifiable
- parsimonious (using the simplest explanation)
where to write hypotheses?
last part of the introduction
after aims
right before methods
