Research methods for Social Sciences
SCMA 2040 LAB 2: HYPOTHESIS.
n Lab 2 you will develop and state a research hypothesis, and a null hypothesis based on the same research question. To complete this lab, here is what you need to do:
Step 1: Construct a positive hypothesis, or a statement about your research question that you suspect is true — based on your observations and/or research on the topic so far – and you want to test to see if it is correct.
Choose any topic that interests you. For example, you could base your hypotheses (both the positive and negative versions) on your hypothetical research question you came up with in Lab #1, or you could choose a different topic to base those hypotheses on if the first research topic isn’t appropriate (for example, if your Lab #1 topic is more of a qualitative study seeking description, which doesn’t necessarily have testable outcomes attached to it). On a Word document, state your positive hypothesis for researching the topic.
Step 2: State a null hypothesis for the same research topic. In other words, come up with a statement (proposition) that you would work to prove is incorrect rather than correct about your research topic. Do not simply add negative language (“no” or “not”).
Step 3: Be sure your null hypothesis relates to your hypothesis—they must be positive or negative assertions based on the same research question.
Step 4: For both your positive and null hypotheses, explain how you would investigate whether these hypothetical statements (hypotheses) about your research topic were true or false.
Step 5: Submit your hypothesis to the appropriate Dropbox folder.
