INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

GGSIPU

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY UNIT 1

MEANING

Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in
a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings.

Research is a scientific and systematic search for various information about a specific topic. It is
just like a search for truth and knowledge.

According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie, “Research is a systematic inquiry to
describe, explain, predict, and control the observed phenomenon.

According to Redman and Mory, Research is a systematized effort to gain new knowledge.

According to P.M. Cook, Research is an honest, exhaustive, intelligent search for facts and their
meanings or implications with reference to a given problem.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH

1. Research is directed towards the solution of the problem.

2. Research gathers new knowledge or data from primary and secondary sources.
3. Research is logical and objective.
4. Research is systematic.
5. Research demands accuracy.
6. Research requires patience and courage.
7. Research is highly purposive.
8. Research is carefully recorded and reported.
9. The research should focus on priority problems.
10. The research should be reductive. This means that the findings of one researcher should
be made available to other researchers to prevent them from repeating the same research.
11. The research should be action-oriented. In other words, it should be aimed at reaching a
solution leading to the implementation of its findings.
12. The research must be relatively simple and timely.
13. The research must be as cost-effective as possible.

SOME EXAMPLES OF RESEARCH TOPICS

1. Is it right to use animals in sports and entertainment?

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 2. Is the wealth of the world distributed equally among its people? What could be done to
promote greater equality?
3. Explore the benefits and drawbacks of a ‘no child left behind’ educational policy.
4. Does quality literature have a positive effect on society?
5. Is global warming a reality? If it really is happening, what are the primary causes? Can
humanity make a difference?
6. How have fast-food restaurants affected family nutrition and health? Should the menus of
such restaurants be regulated?
7. Discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing customer services. Comparing the views of
customers with that of businesses will no doubt prove enlightening.
8. A farmer is planting two varieties of jute side by side to compare yields;
9. A sociologist is examining the causes and consequences of divorce;
10. An economist is looking at the interdependence of inflation and foreign direct
investment;
11. A physician is experimenting with the effects of multiple uses of disposable insulin
syringes in hospital;
12. A business enterprise is examining the effects of advertisement of their products on the
volume of sales;
13. An economist is doing a cost-benefit analysis of reducing the sales tax on essential
commodities;
14. Supermarket Management is assessing the satisfaction level of the customers in their
products.

SCOPE OF BUSINESS RESEARCH

Business research is described as the systematic and objective procedure for producing
information for help in making business decisions. Business research should be objective,
which means that the information found needs to be detached and impersonal instead of
biased. Research facilitates the managerial decision process for all aspects of a business.

By lowering the uncertainty of decisions, it cuts down on the risk of making incorrect
decisions. Research should be an aid to managerial judgment but not a replacement for it.

Scope of Business Research Includes the Following Areas

Production Management: The research performs an important function in product development,

diversification, introducing a new product, product improvement, process technologies, choosing
a site, new investment etc.
Personnel Management: Research works well for job redesign, organization restructuring,
development of motivational strategies and organizational development.

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Marketing Management: Research performs an important part in choice and size of target
market, the consumer behavior with regards to attitudes, life style, and influences of the target
market. It is the primary tool in determining price policy, selection of channel of distribution and
development of sales strategies, product mix, promotional strategies, etc.
Financial Management: Research can be useful for portfolio management, distribution of
dividend, capital raising, hedging and looking after fluctuations in foreign currency and product
cycles.
Materials Management: It is utilized in choosing the supplier, making the decisions relevant to
make or buy as well as in selecting negotiation strategies.
General Management: It contributes greatly in developing the standards, objectives, long-term
goals, and growth strategies.

Business research assists decision makers shift from intuitive information gathering to organized
and objective study. Even though researchers in different functional fields may examine different
phenomena, they are comparable to each other simply because they make use of similar research
techniques. Research is the fountain of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and it is a crucial
source of providing guidelines for solving various business issues. Thus, we can say that the
scope of business research is enormous.

OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH

The main purpose of research is to discover answers to the meaningful questions through
scientific procedures and systematic attempts. The hidden truths which are not discovered yet
can easily come to light by research.It is a movement from known to unknown.

The main objectives of research are-

1. To gain familiarity or to achieve new insights into a phenomenon. This is known as

exploratory or Formularize Research Studies.
2. To describe the accurate characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group.
This is known as Descriptive Research Studies.
3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated
with other things. This is known as Diagnostic Research Studies/Explanatory Research
Studies.
4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables. Such studies are known as
Hypothesis testing Research Studies/Prediction Research Studies.

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Goals of Research

The primary goal or purpose of research in any field of inquiry; is to add to what is known about
the phenomenon under investigation through the application of scientific methods.

Though each research has its own specific goals, yet we may enumerate the following 4 broad
goals of scientific research:

1. Exploration.
2. Description.
3. Causal explanation.
4. Prediction.

Let’s try to understand the 4 goals of the research.

Exploration and Explorative Research

Exploration is finding out about some previously unexamined phenomenon. In other words, an
explorative study structures and identifies new problems.

The explorative study aims at gaining familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights
into it.

Exploration is particularly useful when researchers lack a clear idea of the problems they meet
during their study.

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Through exploration, researchers attempt to

● Develop concepts more clearly;

● Establish priorities among several alternatives;
● Develop operational definitions of variables;
● Formulate research hypotheses and sharpen research objectives;
● Improve the methodology and modify (if needed) research design.

Exploration is achieved through what we call exploratory research.

The end of an explorative study comes when the researchers are convinced that they have
established the major dimensions of the research task.

Description and Descriptive Research

Many research activities consist of gathering information on some topic of interest. The
description refers to these data-based information-gathering activities. Descriptive studies
portray precisely the characteristics of a particular individual, situation, or group.

Here we attempt to describe situations and events through studies, which we refer to as
descriptive research.

Such research is undertaken when much is known about the problem under investigation.

Descriptive studies try to discover answers to the questions who, what, when, where, and
sometimes how.

Such research studies may involve the collection of data and the creation of distribution of the
number of times the researcher observes a single event or characteristic, known as a research
variable.

A descriptive study may also involve the interaction of two or more variables and attempts to
observe if there is any relationship between the variables under investigation.

Research that examines such a relationship is sometimes called correlational study. It is

correlational because it attempts to relate (i.e., co-relate) two or more variables.

A descriptive study may be feasible to answer the questions of the following types:

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 ● What are the characteristics of the people who are involved in city crime? Are they
young? Middle-aged? Poor? Muslim? Educated?
● Who are the potential buyers of the new product? Men or women? Urban people or rural
people?
● Are rural women more likely to marry earlier than their urban counterparts?
● Does previous experience help an employee to get a higher initial salary?

Although the data description in descriptive research is factual, accurate, and systematic, the
research cannot describe what caused a situation.

Thus, descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal relationship, where one variable
affects another.

But there are always restrictions on that. All research must have an impact on the lives of the
people around us.

For example, finding the most frequent disease that affects the people of a community falls under
descriptive research.

But the readers of the research will have the hunch to know why this has happened, and what to
do to prevent that disease so that more people will live a healthy life.

It dictates that we need a causal explanation of the situation under reference and hence a causal
study vis-a-vis causal research.

Causal Explanation and Causal Research

Explanation reveals why and how something happens.

An explanatory study goes beyond description and attempts to establish a cause-and-effect

relationship between variables. It explains the reason for the phenomenon that the descriptive
study observed.

Thus if a researcher finds that communities having larger family size have higher child death or
that smoking is correlated with lung cancer, he is performing a descriptive study.

If he is explaining why it is so and tries to establish a cause-and-effect relationship, he is

performing explanatory research or causal research. The researcher uses theories or at-least
hypotheses to account for the factors that caused a certain phenomenon to occur.

Look at the following examples that fit causal studies:

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 ● Why are people involved in crime? Can we explain this as a consequence of the present
crisis in the job market or for lack of parental care?
● Will the buyers be motivated to purchase the new product in a new container? Can an
attractive advertisement motivate them to buy a new product?

Prediction and Predictive Research

Prediction seeks to answer: when and in what situations the event will occur, if we can provide a
plausible explanation for the event in question.

The precise nature of the relationship between explanation and prediction, however, has been a
subject of debate.

One view is that explanation and prediction are the same phenomena except that prediction
precedes the event while the explanation takes place after the event has occurred.

Another view is that explanation and prediction are fundamentally different processes.

We need not be concerned with this debate here but can simply state that in addition to being
able to explain an event after it has occurred, we would also be able to predict when the event
will occur.

UNIT OF ANALYSIS

When designing a research project, it is imperative to consider units of analysis and units of
observation. These may differ slightly in quantitative and qualitative research designs. These two
items concern what the researcher observes in their data collection and what they hope to say
about those observations. A unit of analysis is the entity that you wish to say something about at
the end of your study, and it is considered the focus of your study. A unit of observation is the
item (or items) that you observe, measure, or collect while trying to learn something about your
unit of analysis.

To demonstrate these differences, let us look at the topic of students’ addictions to their cell
phones. We will consider first how different kinds of research questions about this topic will
yield different units of analysis. Then we will think about how those questions might be
answered and with what kinds of data. This leads us to a variety of units of observation.

If I were to ask, “Which students are most likely to be addicted to their cell phones?” our unit of
analysis would be the individual. We might mail a survey to students on a university or college
campus, with the aim to classify individuals according to their membership in certain social
classes and, in turn, to see how membership in those classes correlates with addiction to cell
phones. For example, we might find that students studying media, and students with high

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socioeconomic status are all more likely than other students to become addicted to their cell
phones. Our aim is to describe the characteristics of individuals. We may then make
generalizations about the populations to which these individuals belong, but our unit of analysis
is still the individual.

Another common unit of analysis in sociological inquiry is groups. Groups, of course, vary in
size, and almost no group is too small or too large to be of interest to sociologists. Families,
friendship groups, and street gangs make up some of the more common micro-level groups
examined by sociologists. Employees in an organization, professionals in a particular domain
(e.g., chefs, lawyers, sociologists), and members of clubs (e.g Girl Guides, Rotary, Society) are
all meso-level groups that sociologists might study. Finally, at the macro level, sociologists
sometimes examine citizens of entire nations or residents of different continents or other regions.

A study of student addictions to their cell phones at the group level might consider
whether certain types of social clubs have more or fewer cell phone-addicted
members than other sorts of clubs. Perhaps we would find that clubs that
emphasize physical fitness, such as the rugby club and the scuba club, have fewer
cell phone-addicted members than clubs that emphasize cerebral activity, such as
the chess club and the sociology club. Our unit of analysis in this example is
groups. If we had instead asked whether people who join cerebral clubs are more
likely to be cell phone-addicted than those who join social clubs, then our unit of
analysis would have been individuals. In either case, however, our unit of
observation would be individuals.

Organizations are yet another potential unit of analysis that social scientists might wish to say
something about. Organizations include entities like corporations, colleges and universities, and
even night clubs. At the organization level, a study of students’ cell phone addictions might ask,
“How do different colleges address the problem of cell phone addiction?” In this case, our
interest lies not in the experience of individual students but instead in the campus-to-campus
differences in confronting cell phone addictions. A researcher conducting a study of this type
might examine schools’ written policies and procedures, so his unit of observation would be
documents. However, because he ultimately wishes to describe differences across campuses, the
college would be his unit of analysis.

Social phenomena are also a potential unit of analysis. Many sociologists study a
variety of social interactions and social problems that fall under this category.
Examples include social problems like murder or rape; interactions such as
counselling sessions, Facebook chatting, or wrestling; and other social phenomena
such as voting and even cell phone use or misuse. A researcher interested in
students’ cell phone addictions could ask, “What are the various types of cell
phone addictions that exist among students?” Perhaps the researcher will discover
that some addictions are primarily centered on social media such as chat rooms,
Facebook, or texting, Quora while other addictions center on single-player games

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that discourage interaction with others. The resultant typology of cell phone
addictions would tell us something about the social phenomenon (unit of analysis)
being studied. As in several of the preceding examples, however, the unit of
observation would likely be individual people.

Finally, a number of social scientists examine policies and principles, the last type of unit of
analysis we will consider here. Studies that analyze policies and principles typically rely on
documents as the unit of observation. Perhaps a researcher has been hired by a college to help it
write an effective policy against cell phone use in the classroom. In this case, the researcher
might gather all previously written policies from campuses all over the country, and compare
policies at campuses where the use of cell phones in the classroom is low to policies at campuses
where the use of cell phones in the classroom is high.

CONCEPTION, CONSTRUCTS, ATTRIBUTE, VARIABLE, HYPOTHESIS

CONCEPTION

The first step in the measurement process is to define the concepts we are studying.
Researchers generate concepts by generalizing from particular facts. Concepts are
based on our experiences. Concepts can be based on real phenomenon and are a
generalized idea of something of meaning. Examples of concepts include common
demographic measures: Income, Age, Education level, Number of siblings.

‘‘Conceptions of research have rarely been a subject for investigation, and empirical
work on the ways in which research is experienced by those who undertake it is hard to
find’’. Common to many of the phenomenographic studies in the literature on
‘‘conceptions’’ is the theorization that a ‘‘conception’’ of some phenomenon reflects
(variation in) individuals’ experiences and development of an understanding of that same
phenomenon in specific contexts.

Conceptual research is defined as a methodology wherein research is conducted by observing

and analyzing already present information on a given topic. Conceptual research doesn't
involve conducting any practical experiments. It is related to abstract concepts or ideas.

We can measure concepts through direct and indirect observations:

1. Direct Observation: We can measure someone's weight or height. And, we can record
the color of their hair or eyes.

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 2. Indirect Observation: We can use a questionnaire in which respondents provide
answers to our questions about gender, income, age, attitudes, and behaviors.

Concepts are closely related to the main sociological perspectives, and some of the main
concepts developed by different perspectives include:

● Functionalism – social integration

● Marxism – social class
● Feminism – gender
● Interactionism – labelling and discrimination
● Postmodernism – identity.

Within sociology, one might even say that there’s a more ‘fundamental’ layer of concepts that lie
behind the above – such as ‘society’, ‘culture’ and ‘socialization‘, even ‘sociology’ itself is a
concept, as are ‘research’ and ‘knowledge’.

Concepts also include some really ‘obvious’ aspects of social life such as ‘family’, ‘childhood’,
‘religious belief’, ‘educational achievement’ and ‘crime’. Basically, anything that can be said to
be ‘socially constructed’ is a concept.

Each concept basically represents a label that researchers give to elements of the social world
that strikes them as significant. Bulmer (1984) suggests that concepts are ‘categories for the
organization of ideas and observations’.

Concepts and their measurement in quantitative research

If a concept is to be employed in quantitative research, a measure will have to be developed for it

so it can be quantified. Measures also make it easier to compare educational achievement over
time and across countries. As we start to investigate such issues we are likely to formulate
theories to help us understand why, for example, educational achievement varies between
countries or over time. This will in turn generate new concepts, as we try to refine our
understanding of variations in poverty rates.

Indicators in Quantitative Social Research

Because most concepts are not directly observable in quantitative form (i.e. they do not already
appear in society in numerical form), sociologists need to devise ‘indicators’ to measure most
sociological concepts. An indicator is something that stands for a concept and enables (in
quantitative research at least) a sociologist to measure that concept.

For example….

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 ● We might use the number of social connections an individual has to society to measure
‘social integration’, much like Hirschi did in his ‘bonds of attachment theory‘.
● We might use the number of barriers women face compared to men in politics and
education to measure ‘Patriarchy’ in society.

CONSTRUCTS

Constructs: Constructs are measured with multiple variables. Constructs exist at a higher level
of abstraction than concepts. Justice, Beauty, Happiness, and Health are all constructs.
Constructs are considered latent variables because they cannot be directly observable or
measured. Typical constructs in marketing research include Brand Loyalty, Purchase Intent, and
Customer Satisfaction. Constructs are the basis of working hypotheses.

In the context of survey research, a construct is the abstract idea, underlying theme, or subject
matter that one wishes to measure using survey questions. ... Complex constructs contain
multiple dimensions or facets that are bound together by some commonality that, as a whole,
compose the construct.

Intelligence, motivation, anxiety, and fear are all examples of constructs. In psychology, a construct is a skill,
attribute, or ability that is based on one or more established theories. Constructs exist in the human brain and
are not directly observable. For example, though you may know a person is smart by the way they speak and
what they say, you cannot directly observe intelligence. You can tell someone is anxious if they are trembling,
sweating, and restless, but you cannot directly observe anxiety. You also cannot directly observe fear or
motivation. They are all complex, abstract concepts that are indirectly observed through a collection of related
events.

Constructs are mental abstractions that we used to express the ideas, people,

organisations, events and/or objects/things that we are interested in. Constructs are a way

of bringing theory down to earth, helping to explain the different components of theories, as

well as measure/observe their behaviour. The table below provides some examples of these

different types of constructs:

Types of constructs Examples

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 Ideas Ageism, sexism, racism, self-esteem, poverty, social capital, trust,
philanthropy, affluence, morality, tolerance, air pollution, genetic
engineering, euthanasia, marriage, taboos

People Age, gender, ethnicity, height, obesity, morbidity, energy, muscle

soreness, fatigue

Organizations Financial performance, corporate social responsibility, firm

survival, organizational culture, service quality, corporate
governance, outsourcing, alliances

Events Famine, urban regeneration, Jihad, secularism

Objects/Things Sun, hurricanes, tsunamis, trees, flowers, amino acids, stem cells

The examples above highlight a desire to capture what we mean about something through the use
of just a few words (often only one or two words).

The meaning we are trying to convey Construct

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 Prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person's age Ageism

The problem of obesity - the state of being grossly fat or overweight - Child obesity
among children

The formal union of a man and a woman, typically recognized by law, by Marriage
which they become husband and wife

Extreme scarcity of food Famine

The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful Euthanasia
disease or in an irreversible coma

A long, high sea wave caused by an earthquake or other disturbance Tsunami

ATTRIBUTES

Attributes refer to the characteristics of the item under study, like the habit of smoking, or
drinking. So 'smoking' and 'drinking' both refer to the example of an attribute. The researcher
should note that the techniques involve statistical knowledge and are used at a wider extent in the
theory of attributes.

An attribute is defined as a quality or characteristic of a person, place, or thing. Real life

individuals and fictional characters possess various attributes. For example, someone might be
labeled beautiful, charming, funny, or intelligent.

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A good research alone is of relevance in solving the problem under consideration. Hence it
becomes imperative that we understand the attributes that define a good research. Some of the
essential features of a good research are:

1.A good research has a well defined goal. It should have a clear statement of objectives.

2.It should also have a systematic plan of work. A specific programme helps in monitoring and
carrying out the research within a budgeted time and cost framework and at the same time yields
conclusive results.

3.It aims at increasing the understanding of existing and new facts and ideas.

4.Good research is logical. A clear logical argument is required to communicate and ordered
sequence of ideas and activities and hence support research conclusions.

5.The results of good research should be verifiable. The research if replicated should yield same
conclusions. A research that relies on concrete data collected form a real life situation would
have good chances of yielding valid results.

However it is a fact that a good researcher alone can conduct a good research. Hence a research
can give fruitful results only if the person conducting the research is true to it.

Creativeness- A good researcher should have some degree of creativity and imagination. It
would help him in not only looking out for new things but will also enable him to look at old
things with a different perception.

Unbiasedness- personal prejudice should not enter into his research. He should be unbiased in
collecting and interpreting the results.

Perseverance- Research requires a lot of patience and hardwork. A researcher should have the
courage to overcome hurdles at all stages. He should remember that even best laid plans can go
wrong and persevere ahead.

Analytical mind– A good researcher should have an analytical mind to unearth new
relationships-give sound reasoning and co-relate his findings logically.

VARIABLES

In statistical research, a variable is defined as an attribute of an object of study. Choosing which

variables to measure is central to good experimental design.

Variables are things you measure, manipulate and control in statistics and research. All studies
analyze a variable, which can describe a person, place, thing or idea. A variable's value can

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change between groups or over time. For example, if the variable in an experiment is a person's
eye color, its value can change from brown to blue to green from person to person.

Types of variables

Researchers organize variables into a variety of categories, the most common of which include:

Independent variables

An independent variable is a singular characteristic that the other variables in your experiment
cannot change. Age is an example of an independent variable. Where someone lives, what they
eat or how much they exercise are not going to change their age. Independent variables can,
however, change other variables. In studies, researchers often try to find out whether an
independent variable causes other variables to change and in what way.

Dependent variables

A dependent variable relies on and can be changed by other components. A grade on an exam is
an example of a dependent variable because it depends on factors such as how much sleep you
got and how long you studied. Independent variables can influence dependent variables, but
dependent variables cannot influence independent variables. For example, the time you spent
studying (dependent) can affect the grade on your test (independent) but the grade on your test
does not affect the time you spent studying.

When analyzing relationships between study objects, researchers often try to determine what
makes the dependent variable change and how.

Intervening variables

An intervening variable, sometimes called a mediator variable, is a theoretical variable the

researcher uses to explain a cause or connection between other study variables—usually
dependent and independent ones. They are associations instead of observations. For example, if
wealth is the independent variable, and a long life span is a dependent variable, the researcher
might hypothesize that access to quality healthcare is the intervening variable that links wealth
and life span.

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Moderating variables

A moderating or moderator variable changes the relationship between dependent and

independent variables by strengthening or weakening the intervening variable's effect. For
example, in a study looking at the relationship between economic status (independent variable)
and how frequently people get physical exams from a doctor (dependent variable), age is a
moderating variable. That relationship might be weaker in younger individuals and stronger in
older individuals.

Control variables

Control or controlling variables are characteristics that are constant and do not change during a
study. They have no effect on other variables. Researchers might intentionally keep a control
variable the same throughout an experiment to prevent bias. For example, in an experiment about
plant development, control variables might include the amounts of fertilizer and water each plant
gets. These amounts are always the same so that they do not affect the plants' growth.

Extraneous variables

Extraneous variables are factors that affect the dependent variable but that the researcher did not
originally consider when designing the experiment. These unwanted variables can
unintentionally change a study's results or how a researcher interprets those results. Take, for
example, a study assessing whether private tutoring or online courses are more effective at
improving students' Spanish test scores. Extraneous variables that might unintentionally
influence the outcome include parental support, prior knowledge of a foreign language or
socioeconomic status.

HYPOTHESIS

What is Hypothesis?

Hypothesis is an presumption that is made on the basis of some evidence. This is the initial point
of any investigation that translates the research questions into a prediction. It includes

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components like variables, population and the relation between the variables. A research
hypothesis is a hypothesis that is used to test the relationship between two or more variables.

Characteristics of Hypothesis
Following are the characteristics of hypothesis:
● The hypothesis should be clear and precise to consider it to be reliable.
● If the hypothesis is a relational hypothesis, then it should be stating the relationship
between variables.
● The hypothesis must be specific and should have scope for conducting more tests.
● The way of explanation of the hypothesis must be very simple and it should also be
understood that the simplicity of the hypothesis is not related to its significance.

Types of Hypothesis
There are six forms of hypothesis and they are:
● Simple hypothesis
● Complex hypothesis
● Directional hypothesis
● Non-directional hypothesis
● Null hypothesis
● Associative and causal hypothesis

Simple Hypothesis
It shows a relationship between one dependent variable and a single independent variable. For
example – If you eat more vegetables, you will lose weight faster. Here, eating more vegetables
is an independent variable, while losing weight is the dependent variable.

Complex Hypothesis
It shows the relationship between two or more dependent variables and two or more independent
variables. Eating more vegetables and fruits leads to weight loss, glowing skin, reduces the risk
of many diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers.

Directional Hypothesis
It shows how a researcher is intellectual and committed to a particular outcome. The relationship
between the variables can also predict its nature. For example- children aged four years eating
proper food over a five-year period are having higher IQ levels than children not having a proper
meal. This shows the effect and direction of effect.

Non-directional Hypothesis

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It is used when there is no theory involved. It is a statement that a relationship exists between
two variables, without predicting the exact nature (direction) of the relationship.

Null Hypothesis(H0) is considered to be always rejected

It provides a statement which is contrary to the hypothesis. It’s a negative statement, and there is
no relationship between independent and dependent variables. The symbol is denoted by “HO”.
The null hypothesis states that there is no relationship between the two variables being studied
(one variable does not affect the other). There will be no changes in the dependent variable due
to the manipulation of the independent variable.
It states results are due to chance and are not significant in terms of supporting the idea being
investigated.

Alternate Hypothesis(H1)- opposite of null hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis states that there is a relationship between the two variables being
studied (one variable has an effect on the other).
An experimental hypothesis predicts what change(s) will take place in the dependent variable
when the independent variable is manipulated.
It states that the results are not due to chance and that they are significant in terms of supporting
the theory being investigated.

Associative and Causal Hypothesis

Associative hypothesis occurs when there is a change in one variable resulting in a change in the
other variable. Whereas, causal hypothesis proposes a cause and effect interaction between two
or more variables.

Examples of Hypothesis
Following are the examples of hypothesis based on their types:
● Consumption of sugary drinks every day leads to obesity is an example of a simple
hypothesis & causal hypothesis
● All lilies have the same number of petals is an example of a null hypothesis.
● If a person gets 7 hours of sleep, then he will feel less fatigue than if he sleeps less.

Let’s consider a hypothesis that many teachers might subscribe to: that students work better on
Monday morning than they do on a Friday afternoon (IV=Day, DV=Standard of work).
Now, if we decide to study this by giving the same group of students a lesson on a Monday
morning and on a Friday afternoon and then measuring their immediate recall on the material
covered in each session we would end up with the following:

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 ● The alternative hypothesis states that students will recall significantly more information
on a Monday morning than on a Friday afternoon.
● The null hypothesis states that there will be no significant difference in the amount
recalled on a Monday morning compared to a Friday afternoon. Any difference will be
due to chance.
At this point, you might be asking why we seem so interested in the null hypothesis. Surely the
alternative (or experimental) hypothesis is more important?
Well, yes it is. However, we can never 100% prove the alternative hypothesis. What we do
instead is see if we can disprove, or reject, the null hypothesis.
If we reject the null hypothesis, this doesn’t really mean that our alternative hypothesis is correct
– but it does provide support for the alternative / experimental hypothesis.

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