9.

FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESES
The research problem explained by precised questions leads to speculations, proposals, and
expected answers to the questions. This is the meaning of assumptions.
9.1. Definition and elements to be considered
The hypothesis is an affirmative written statement in the present tense, formally declaring the
relationship expected between two or more variables. This is an assumption or prediction, based
on the logic of the problem and research objectives defined. It is an expected response to the
research question. Formulating a hypothesis involves verifying a theory or specifically its
proposals. The hypothesis is to be confirmed, reversed or to be tempered by the confrontation of
the facts.
Factors to be considered in the formulation of hypotheses:
- Statement of relationships: Relationship between two variables, two or more concepts.
This relationship may be causal (cause and effect, for example: "this causes that", "this explains
that," "this has an impact on that") or associative (e.g. "this has to do with that "; this is in
relation to that"). In most assumptions, we consider two main types of concepts: causes (or
factors) that have impacts (or consequences). The causes are also called independent variables
while the effects are dependent variables. In a relationship between two variables in a hypothesis,
the variable to be explained is the dependent variable, and the explanatory factor is the
independent variable.
- The direction of the relationship is indicated by the following terms: "less than", "greater
than", "different", "positive", "negative", etc.
- Verifiability: The essence of the hypothesis is that it can be verified. It contains observable
variables, measurable and identifiable in reality.
- Plausibility: The hypothesis must be plausible, that is, it must be relevant to the phenomenon
under study.
Some elements to be remembered:
- You can have primary and secondary or operational hypotheses.
These must be built around the main hypothesis and call each other in a logic imposed by the
statement problem.
- To test the hypothesis, the attitude at the beginning must be that of the reverse. This reinforces
the doubt and creates the conditions for scientific objectivity in reducing the risk of subjective

interpretations and orientations. The hypothesis is confirmed only to the extent that any data
collected is not invalid.
- To confirm a hypothesis is not to ask respondents if they adhere to the suggestions of the
subject.
10. VARIABLES AND INDICATORS
The indicator permits the recognition of a variable. For example, the degree is an indicator of the
level of education. Turnover is an indicator of business performance. It is necessary to transform
the concepts or notions into measurable indicators so as to make the study operational.
11. CONSTRUCTION OF LITERATURE REVIEW
The construction of a literature review begins from the research question that was given.
That is why this research question should be clearly formulated - this research question should be
a thorough examination of its various components. Suppose the following study should be
carried out: The social determinants and the level of professional aspiration of school children.
Formulate the following research question:
The education and the choice of career related to the level of education required by
children are they according to the occupational category of their parents, their lifestyle and their
level of education?
This research question contains a number of information that should be exploited in order to
organise the literature review. For example, the social determinants characterise the population of
parents (lifestyle, social and professional status, level of education), but moving towards
demographic studies, surveys to budget consumption and to the socio-economic analysis of the
levels life.
The aspects of the research question relative to the population of children such as the level of
education, academic performance, conditions of education guide us to the area of national
education, to specialists in pedagogy and to the literature of the sociology of education.
Once these guides are specified, select the books that refer to the subject of the study and the
research question or focus on issues related to the research question. To perform these readings,
some principles must be observed:
1. Always start with the research question.
2. Be directed to books or articles with only a few dozen pages.

3. Look for books (documents) that show especially analyses and not only statistics.
4. Look for texts that provide diverse approaches to the problem that to be studied.
5. Provide a reading grid.
The reading grid is a construction that permits the identification on the one hand of the major
terms identified by the authors and on the other part it can connect these terms to the different
parts of the research question and its overall content.
How to exhibit the literature review?
The literature review should be organised, systematic and structured. This means that it is not a
subjective risky business, directed according to aesthetic or ideological preferences of the
researcher.
The literature review should begin by structuring the presentation of texts by giving the terms. In
the presentation of a review of research, we do not write the title of the book; announcement is
only of the author and the publication date of the book. We do not use quotations; it is to
summarise what the author said about the idea described in the book, which is related to the
components of the research question. At the end of the presentation, give his views on the
contribution of his work in the present research. We must also end with a conclusion of the
authors that have served to make our literature review. We made a partial conclusion of each
author (of a scientific value and our opinion).
Around each term, we highlight the authors whose books are more or less similar to the content
of the topic. The presentation of an author should be concise and end with a brief assessment of
the scientific contribution of his work in relation to the research question that was given out.
Once exhausted, the scientific statement must give way to a second step:
The researcher must take stock of the main terms or issues encountered by the authors to show
their relationship with the given topic. This second point of the process of the literature review is
part of the general conclusion of the literature review which must recall most of the topics
discussed by the authors while articulating with each other in relation to the different parts of the
research question.
This approach is an effective transition to the statement problem.
The literature review and the initial question being fixed, we must strengthen the research
process initiated by the research question, by explorations.

Exercise: Draw a table, summarise and indicate what is permissible in the literature review and
what is not permissible