Home / Summaries / Understanding Communication Research Methods A Theoretical and Practical Approach / hypothesis-research-variable

Research Design - Hypotheses and Research Questions

6 important questions on Research Design - Hypotheses and Research Questions

Why are developing and testing hypothesis and research questions critical to the research process?

Hypothesis are statements about the relationships between variables, while research questions are questions about proposed relationships between variables. Data is then used to test hypothesis and research questions.

Why are developing and testing hypothesis and research questions critical to the research process?

What is a hypothesis?

A hypothesis= a testable statement showing how 2 or more concepts/ideas are related or different in some ways.
We develop hypothesis from theoretical propositions, which are statements based on research arguing how concepts/ideas are related. Hypothesis take propositions a step further though empirical testing.

Thus, the researcher’s focus is to test hypotheses through empirical testing. After empirically testing a hypothesis repeatedly, our confidence increases. Typically only hypothesis in quantitive studies, rarely in qualitative or critical studies.

What are independent and dependent variables?

Independent variable= is controlled or does not depend on the other variables.
Dependent variable= is being measured/tested in a study/experiment and changes in relation to the values of the independent variable.

Which 2 hypothesis are there? And what do they entail?

1. Null hypothesis= no relationship exists between variables, or there is no significant effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable. The null hypothesis exists for researchers so that we can examine how different our findings are from the null. We compare the null and our results to understand the ‘importance’ or significance of our results.

2. Research hypothesis= proposes that an independent variable has a significant effect on a dependent variable. It states that a difference/relationship exists. There are 3 main forms.

What is the main difference between the hypothesis and research question?

The main difference between the hypothesis and research question is the depth of previous research. A hypothesis has enough research to propose the hypothesis, and you are trying to confirm the difference identified in previous research.

With a research question, you have some research leading you to think there may be a difference or relationship, but you are not sure. Therefore, you are exploring to see if a difference/relationship exists.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Understanding Communication Research Methods A Theoretical and Practical Approach | 9781135053628 | Stephen M Croucher, et al

View summary