Hypotheses: An investigator cannot enter in any field with a blank mind.

Normally he or she
begins the task of investigation with some ideas about the subject matter vaguely formulated.
Having thus entered the field of investigation, he or she proceeds to find out whether these ideas
what he or she has conceived are true or false. They may be totally correct or only partially so, or
may be altogether false but as a guide to understanding the problem on hand, these ideas are very
useful. These primary ideas which guide the investigator in his study may be termed as
hypothesis.

The concept of hypothesis has been defined by various scientists in their own ways. Hypo
means “less than” and thesis means “a generally held view”. Etymologically speaking thus the
word hypothesis connotes “a less than generally held view”. It is an assumption or supposition
whose validity is to be tested.

a) Definition: A hypothesis is a tentative answer to a research problem, expressed in the form of

a clearly stated relation between the independent and the dependent variables. Hypotheses are
tentative answers because they can be verified only after they have been tested empirically.

According to Rumel and Belline “a hypothesis is a statement capable of being tested and
thereby verified or rejected”.

According to Goode and Hatt “hypothesis is a shrewd guess that is formulated and
provisionally adopted to explain observed facts, or conditions and to guide in further
investigation”. They further add that “it is a proposition which can be put to test to determine its
validity. It may prove to be correct or incorrect”.

In the words of George Lundberg, “a hypothesis is a tentative generalization, the validity

of which remains to be tested. In its most elementary stage the hypothesis may be any hunch,
guess, imaginative idea, which becomes the basis for action or investigation”.

Barr and Scates define hypothesis as “a hypothesis is a statement temporarily accepted as

true… when the hypothesis is fully established, it may take the form of facts, principles or
theories”.

According to Webster, “a hypothesis is a proposition, condition or principle which is

assumed, perhaps without belief in order to draw out its logical consequences and by this method
to test its accord with facts which are known or may be determined”.

Kerlinger states “a hypothesis is a conjectural statement of relation between two or more

variables. Hypothesis are always in declarative sentence form and they relate whether generally
or specifically variables to variables”.

James E. Creighlon defines hypothesis as “a tentative supposition or provisional guess

which seems to explain the situation under observation”.

In the opinion of J. S. Mill “a hypothesis is only an unproved supposition, a weak form of

proposition”.
 Hypothesis simply means a mere assumption or some supposition to be proved or
disproved. It is a preposition or a set of proposition set forth as an explanation for the occurrence
of some specified group of phenomena either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to
guide some investigation or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts. Quite
often a research hypothesis is a predictive statement capable of being tested by scientific
methods that relates an independent variable to some dependent variable. It is a statement in a
research, which the study might prove or disprove.

b) Types of Hypothesis: There are different approaches to classify the hypothesis. Some of
them are listed below-

i) Goode and Hatt Classification: According to Goode and Hatt, there are mainly two types of
hypothesis

* Crude Hypothesis: A crude hypothesis is at the low level of abstraction. It indicates the kind
of data to be collected and it does not lead to higher theoretical research.

* Refined Hypothesis: Refined hypothesis are of three types- simple level, complex ideal and
very complex. Simple Level indicates merely the uniformity in social behavior. It does not
involve much verification. Complex Ideal Hypothesis is at higher level of abstraction. This
hypothesis examines the logically derived relations between the empirical uniformities. This type
of hypothesis is useful in developing tools of analysis. It provides constructs for further
hypothesizing. The Very Complex Hypothesis is concerned with the interrelations of multiple
variables.

ii) P. V. Young Classification: Young refers to mainly two types of hypothesis-Working

Hypothesis and Explanatory Hypothesis. Working Hypothesis is a provisional central idea which
becomes the basis for fruitful investigation. The Explanatory Hypothesis refers to the scope of
going into the depth and width with various possibilities so far invisible.
iii) Statistical Analysis: In the context of statistical analysis, a hypothesis may be any one of the
following types-

* Null Hypothesis: Null means Zero. The null hypothesis is a statistical proposition which
states, essentially that, there is no relation between the variable (of the problem). When a
hypothesis is stated negatively, then it is called as a null hypothesis. A null hypothesis is used to
collect additional support for the known hypothesis. The null hypothesis says, “You are wrong,
there is no relation, disprove me if you can”. The objective of the null hypothesis is to avoid
personal bias of the investigator in the matter of data collection.

* Alternative Hypothesis: That which is concluded rejecting the null hypothesis is known as
alternative hypothesis. Alternative hypothesis is formulated embracing a whole range of values
rather than a single point.

For example:

HA = the males visited cinema more than the female.

 H0= the males and females do not different in respect of the frequency of seeing cinema.

So, alternative hypothesis is usually the one which one wishes to prove and the null
hypothesis is the one which one wishes to disprove.

iv) Others: Hypothesis may further be classified into Descriptive Hypothesis and Rational
Hypothesis. Descriptive hypothesis are propositions that typically state the existence, size, form,
or distribution of some variables. The Rational hypothesis on the other hand is a statement that
describes the relationship between two variables. Eg. Families with higher income spend more
for recreation.

c) Difficulties in Formulating a Hypothesis: According to Goode and Hatt, the following

difficulties arise in formulating the hypothesis-

i) Lack of Previous Knowledge of the Field of Enquiry: In the absence of knowledge

concerning a subject matter, one can make no well founded judgment of relevance hypothesis.
ii) Lack of Clear Theoretical Background: Hypothesis do not have a clear cut and definitive
theoretical background, partly it is a matter of lifting upon an idea on some problem.
iii) Lack of Logical Background: Formulation of proper hypothesis to a great extent depends on
one’s experience and logical insight.

iv) Lack of Knowledge of Scientific Method: It is not always possible to have complete
information of and acquaintance with the scientific methods for formulating hypothesis. This
lack of scientific knowledge presents difficulty in formulation of hypothesis.

d) Functions of Hypothesis: Cohen and Nagel’s are of the view that we cannot take a single
step forward in any inquiry without a hypothesis. Without hypothesis mere collection of data is
likely to lead the researcher anywhere without aim and produce no result. The main functions of
hypothesis are-

i) Prevent Blind Research: It spells out the difference between precision and haphazard
research, between fruitful and fruitless research. It helps in selecting pertinent factors. It makes
the enquiry more specific and to the point.

ii) Foundation of Research: The hypotheses are the foundation of scientific research. If a proper
hypothesis is formulated then one fourth of the research works comes to an end.

iii) New Experiment and Observation: A hypothesis what we are looking for is a proposition
which can be put to test to determine its validity.

iv) Provide Direction to Research: Hypothesis shows the line, in which way the researcher has
to proceed. Hypothesis is investigator’s eye – a sort of guiding light in the world of research
darkness to identify which is relevant and which is irrelevant

v) Link the Investigation with Theory: Hypothesis is necessary to link between investigation
and theory, which lead to the discovery of additional knowledge.
vi) Serve as a Framework for Drawing Meaningful Conclusion: Direct answer to the
hypothesis being tested.

vii) Lead to Discovery of Laws: Hypothesis leads one to the discovery of laws and theory.

e) Conclusion: A hypothesis looks forward. It is a proposition which can be put to an empirical

test to determine its validity. Every worthwhile theory permits the formulation of additional
hypothesis. These, when tested, are either proved or disproved and thus in their own constitute
further tests of the original theory.