Hypothesis in educational research

Hypothesis is one of the most essential elements in educational research in which variable based numeric data are collected and analysed. So, meaning, type, importance and characteristics of a good hypothesis are discussed here.

1. HYPOTHESIS
IN
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
By
PROF. SATISHPRAKASH S. SHUKLA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,
GUJARAT UNIVERSITY, NAVRANGPURA, AHMEDABAD -380009

2. Content
•MeaningofHypothesis
•CharacteristicsofGoodHypothesis
•ImportanceofHypothesis
•TypesofHypothesis

3. Meaning of Hypothesis
Hypothesisisanassumptionthatisstillnotprovedbutshowstheprobable
solutionoftheproblemorpredictstherelationshipbetweentwoormore
variables.Theassumptionisprovedtrueorfalsebytestingit.Wewillnot
havethesolutiontotheproblemuntiltheassumptionistested.Three
points,regardingsuchassumptions,areveryimportant.
•The assumptions are made on the basis of previous experiences or
primary evidences or by thinking logically.
•Whether the assumptions are true or false is decided by testing them.
•Testing of assumptions lead to the solution of the problem.
Thus, the hypothesis is a result of matured and logical thinking process.

4. What does Hypothesis Testing Do?
•Bytestingthehypothesis,somefactisestablishedor
sometheory,ruleorprincipleisformedor
generalisationisdoneinthecontextofsolutionofthe
problem.
•Hence,hypotheticalstatementisnotanestablishedfact
orprinciplebutbytestingitthefactisderivedorthe
solutionisgeneralised.
Click here to go to content

5. Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis
•Agoodhypothesisneveropposestheuniversaltruth
andnaturallawandrules.
•Itiswritteninsimpleandeasylanguage.
•Onlyoneassumptionismadeinonehypothesis.
•Thehypothesisiswritteninsuchalanguagethat,after
testing,itcanbeclearlyrejectedornotrejected.
•Hypothesisiswritteninpresenttensebecauseitisnot
apredictionoropinionbutitisanassumptionthatis
basedonpresentfactualinformation.Continue…….

6. Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis
…………Continue
•Agoodhypothesisassuresthatthetoolrequiredfor
testingit(hypo)isavailableorcanbeprepared
(developed)easily.
•Beforeformulatingthehypothesis,itisassuredthat
thedatawillbeavailablefortestingit.
•Agoodhypothesisassuresthattheentireprocess
relatedtodatacollection,dataanalysisandtestingthe
hypothesisisunderthecontroloftheresearcher.
Continue…….

7. Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis
…………Continue
•Itcanbetestedwiththehelpofevidencesanddata.
•Ifatestingofhypothesisgivesasolutionofmain
problemofresearch,itwillbeconsideredasagood
hypothesis.
•Agoodhypothesisgivestheclearideaaboutthearea
ofresearch,variableandstatisticaltechniquetobe
usedfordataanalysis.
•Generally,ahypothesisshowstherelationship
betweentwoormorevariables. Continue…….

8. Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis
…………Continue
•Hypothesis is formulated before collecting and
analysing the data.
•Hypothesis is formulated by thinking logically.
•Hypothesis is formulated on the basis of available
primary evidences.
•If experimental research is there, a hypothesis is
formulated before conducting experiment.
•A good hypothesis promotes deductive reasoning.

9. Importance of a Hypothesis
•Itassumestheresultoftheresearch.Researcher
collectsdatatotestthisassumption.
•Itspecifiesthetypeofdatatobecollectedand
preventstheresearcherfromcollectingunnecessary
data.
•Ithelpstheresearchertoworkincertaindirection.
•Ithelpsinderivingclearfindingsoftheresearch.
•Itgivestheideaabouttheareaandvariablesofthe
studyandstatisticaltechniquetobeappliedfordata
analysis. Continue…….

10. Importance of a Hypothesis
…………Continue
•It gives the idea about the structure of writing the
findings in research report.
•It inspires the researcher to do deductive reasoning. (In
common term we can say that the thinking that is done
to search the evidences to prove the established
theory, principle or rule is called deductive reasoning.)

11. Types of Hypothesis
MainthreetypesofHypothesisarethereasfollows
1.Declarative/Alternate/ResearchHypothesis
2.QuestionTypeHypothesis
3.NullHypothesis

12. Declarative / Alternate / Research Hypothesis
Meaning:
Ifaresearcherformulatesthehypothesisbykeepinginmind
someexpectedresult,itiscalleddeclarativehypothesis.Itis
knownasalternateorresearchhypothesisalso.Researcher
expectssomeresultonthebasisofhisexperienceinthefieldor
onthebasisoftherevieworstudyoftheliterature.Heconverts
suchexpectationinthehypothesis.Itmeans,hemakessome
declarationabouttheresultoftheresearch.Thatiswhysuch
hypothesisiscalleddeclarativehypothesis.
Declarative hypotheses are denoted by H
1, H
2, H
3………..H
n

13. Special Features of
Declarative / Alternate / Research Hypothesis
•Researcherformulatesthedeclarativehypothesesonthebasis
ofpre-experience,studyofresearchmaterialoronthebasisof
thefindingsofpreviousresearches.
•Suchhypothesesareformulatedonthebasisofexpected
findingsoftheresearch.
•Suchhypothesisisacceptedwhennullhypothesisisrejected.
•Suchhypothesisisinfluencedbythebeliefsoftheresearcher.
Thereforeitcannotremainunbiasedalways.
•Therearetwotypesofdeclarativehypothesis.1.Directional
and2.Non-directional.

14. Types of
Declarative / Alternate / Research Hypothesis
MainTwotypesofDeclarativeHypothesisarethereasfollows
1.DirectionalHypothesis
2.Non-directionalHypothesis

15. Directional Hypothesis
Thishypothesisshowstheexpecteddirectionofresults.Itmeans
suchhypothesisassumesaparticularresultinfavourofsome
factor/variable.Inotherwordsitcanbesaidthatdirectional
hypothesisexpectsparticularresultinfavourofacertainvariable
outoftheprobableresults.
Examples
•Theteachingaptitudeofthemalestudent-teachersisbetter
thanthatoffemalestudent-teachers.
•Thereisapositivecorrelationbetweenemotionalmaturity
levelandadjustmentlevelofthefemaleteachersof
secondaryschools.

16. Non-Directional Hypothesis
Thehypothesis,whichdoesnotindicatethedirectionoftheresultorin
whichtheresultisnotexpectedinfavourofcertainvariableiscallednon-
directionalhypothesis.Moreclearly,itcanbesaidthatitassumesthe
differencebutdoesnotfavouranyvariableintermsofdependentvariable.
Ininter-relationalstudies,itassumestherelationshipbetweenvariables
butdoesnotclarifythetypeofrelationshiplikepositiveornegative.
Examples
•There is difference between teaching competency of male and
female teachers of higher secondary schools.
•Thereisapositivecorrelationbetweenemotionalmaturity
levelandadjustmentlevelofthefemaleteachersof
secondaryschools.

17. Question Type Hypothesis
In this type of hypothesis, instead of expecting
a certain result, a questions is formed.
Examples
•Is there difference between exam anxiety of arts, commerce
and science students of higher secondary schools?
•Is the exam anxiety of commerce students of higher secondary
schools more than that of science students?
•Is there positive correlation between intelligence and mental
stress of government employees?

18. Null Hypothesis
If,inthecontextofdependentvariable,thehypothesis
indicates‘nodifference’betweentwoormorelevelsof
independentvariable,itiscallednullhypothesis.Null
hypothesisindicatesnorelationshipbetweentwo
variables,ifcorrelationalstudyisthere.Nullhypothesisis
indicatedbythesymbolH
O.Suchhypothesisisalsocalled
‘nodifference’typeofhypothesisor‘norelation’typeof
hypothesis.Nullhypothesesaredenotedas??????
??????
�
,??????
??????
�
,
??????
??????�
………..??????
????????????
. Continue…….

19. Null Hypothesis
………Continue
Example:
•Thereisnosignificanteffectofinstructionalmethodon
theachievementofthestudentsofgradeninein
English.
•Thereisnosignificantcorrelationbetweenthescores
ofthestudentsofsecondaryschoolsinmentalhealth
scaleandreasoningabilitytest.

20. Reference
Shukla,Satishprakash,(2018)ResearchMethodologyand
Statistics,Ahmedabad:SSSPublications
PROF. SATISHPRAKASH S. SHUKLA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,
GUJARAT UNIVERSITY, NAVRANGPURA,
AHMEDABAD –380009
E-MAIL: [email protected]