OUGD401 - Formulating a Hypothesis

Three step process of formulating a Hypothesis

The general hypothesis states the general relationship between the major variables.

The directional hypothesis refines the general hypothesis by stating the direction of the difference or relationship.

The measurable hypothesis finalizes the direction in more specific terms and uses the correct If...then...because format. It avoids using words like I, think, believe, all, never, and sometimes because these words may either personalize it or are too vague and will result in too broad of an area to research.

Example 1: 

Anne has noticed that 8th grade girls seem to get better grades on organizational skills tests such as notebook quizzes. 

Anne writes a  general hypothesis which states:

"Boys and girls receive different grades on organizational skills tests." 

Do you notice how general this hypothesis is? Do you see that it does not state the direction of the difference?

Anne later writes a directional hypothesis which states:

"Girls get better grades than boys on tests of organizational abilities."

Do you see that she has now given a direction of the relationship, i.e. girls do better than boys? However, this hypothesis is not measurable in its current form.

Anne finally writes a measurable hypothesis in the correct If...then...because format.

The measurable hypothesis states:

"If eighth grades girls take written quizzes, then they will receive significantly higher grades than eighth grade boys because eighth grade girls have better writing skills."

Do you see that Anne has added specific details that make the hypothesis measureable? What difference will you measure? The difference in scores on written quizzes between 8th grade boys and 8th grade girls. You should also see that the hypothesis is specific to 8th graders.

From this I was then able to formulate my own hypothesis which took me several attempts to create a succinct and relevant hypothesis. My final hypothesis for this essay is; 

If the state uses propaganda to enforce its own ideologies then they will deceive the people because they present biased and subjective representations of the subject matter.

I feel this hypothesis embodies the discussion points I plan to make throughout my essay and encompasses holistically what I want to determine as a result of my research project.