Unit 1 - Aims + Hypotheses/How to Formulate

Question 1

What is a research aim?

Answer 1

Identifying a more specific concept to investigate, which will impact their research method.

Question 2

What is a research question?

Answer 2

A broad question about the concept being investigated.

Question 3

What is an alternative hypothesis?

Answer 3

This predicts how one variable (IV) will affect the DV.

Question 4

What is a null hypothesis?

Answer 4

This predicts that the IV will not have an affect on the DV - chance factors rather than IV.

Question 5

What is a one-tailed (directional) hypothesis?

Answer 5

Not only predicts that the IV will have a significant effect on the DV, but also the direction this effect will go in. (e.g. experiment - ‘Men who have beards are seen as significantly older than clean shaven’) (e.g. correlation - ‘There will be a significant positive/negative correlation between co-variables x and y.’)

Question 6

What is a two-tailed (non-directional) hypothesis?

Answer 6

This predicts that the IV will have a significant effect on the DV but does not predict the direction (e.g. experiment - ‘Being sporty has a significant effect on people’s reaction times’), (e.g. correlation - ‘There will be a significant correlation between co-variables x and y.’)