aims of hypothesis Flashcards
what is an aim
a general expression of what the researcher intends to investiagte
what is a hypothesis
a precise and operationalised statement about the assumed relationship between variables
what are the 2 different types of hypotheses
→ directional
→ non-directional
what is a directional hypothesis
→ states the direction of the predicted difference between two conditions or two groups of pp
→ used when there is previous research which supports a particular theory or outcome
→ often includes comparative words → faster / slower, more / less, larger / smaller
what is a non-directional hypothesis
→ non-directional hypothesis does not predict the direction of the change / difference (it is an ‘open goal’ e.g. anything can happen)
→ usually used when there is no or little previous research which supports a particular theory or outcome → what the researcher cannot be confident as to what will happen
→ use the wording - there will be a difference…
what is the difference between a directional and non-directional hypothesis
a directional hypothesis states the direction of an impact of the independent variable (IV) on the dependent variable (DV), whereas non-directional does not state the direction of the relationship between the IV and the DV
what is meant by operationalisation
the process by which a researcher defines how to concept is measured, observed or manipulated within a particular study
→ e.g. social anxiety can be operationally defined in terms of self-rating scores, behavioural avoidance of crowded places or physical anxiety symptoms in social influences
what is the null hypothesis
→ what all research starts with - ground zero
→ has to begin with the idea that the IV will have no effect on the DV because until the experiment is run and the results are analysed it is impossible to state anything else
→ once a researcher has collected and then statistically analysed their findings they will make a statement of significance in which they will either accept or reject the null hypothesis
what is a one tailed hypothesis
a directional hypothesis
what are the 4 different types of hypothesis + what do they measure
→ experimental hypothesis - hypothesis for an experiment
→ research hypothesis - hypothesis for any other type of study - observation, survey
→ alternative hypothesis - another term used to refer to the hypothesis (researcher, experimental) alternative to the null hypothesis
→ null hypothesis - a statement of no difference or no relationship
what is a two tailed hypothesis
a non-directional hypothesis
