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RM Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a testable prediction that restates the research question in specific terms. For example, a hypothesis about sugar and memory would predict that students who ingest 2 grams of sugar before studying will perform better on a memory task than those who do not ingest sugar. The independent variable is the variable that influences the dependent variable and can be manipulated, such as sugar intake. The dependent variable is the variable that is hypothesized to change in response to the independent variable, such as scores on a memory or spelling test.

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72 views1 page

RM Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a testable prediction that restates the research question in specific terms. For example, a hypothesis about sugar and memory would predict that students who ingest 2 grams of sugar before studying will perform better on a memory task than those who do not ingest sugar. The independent variable is the variable that influences the dependent variable and can be manipulated, such as sugar intake. The dependent variable is the variable that is hypothesized to change in response to the independent variable, such as scores on a memory or spelling test.

Uploaded by

pbraijet
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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A hypothesis is a testable prediction/belief of what will happen in some circumstance.

 
Recall from the review of theories that a good theory is one that is testable.  In
developing a hypothesis, you take your research question and restate it in specific
terms that make a prediction.  (You may also choose to keep the hypothesis more
general if you are conducting an exploratory study.)  
    For example, if the research question is to see if sugar affects memory, the hypothesis would be more specific and
state:  
    "College students who ingest 2 grams of sugar before studying for a memorization task will perform better than
college students who do not ingest sugar."

 Independent Variable 
        The independent variable (IV) is generally defined as the variable that influences the dependent
variable.  It is any variable that defines different groups of participants who are measured via the
dependent variable.  It can also be a variable that describes the qualities of the participants.  (An
independent variable is also defined in some textbooks as the variable researchers manipulate so that its
effects may be observed.  But this definition can be limiting, as explained below*.) 
        In our above example, 2 grams of sugar would be the independent variable.  Why?  First, it is the
sugar that is hypothesized to influence (in this case, improve) memory; not the other way around.  Second,
the IV is often the variable that  can be changed or altered by the experimenter such as 1 gram of sugar or
2 or 3.  
        Another example would be if we were comparing spelling ability for children with mental retardation
and children without mental retardation.  The IV for this example would be:  mental   retardation condition
(students with it and without it).  Why?  
        First, whether or not one has mental retardation is hypothesized to influence spelling ability, not the
other way around.  Second, it is the variable that defines the groups of participants who are to have their
spelling abilities measured.  Third, it describes the quality of the participants (either having or not having
mental retardation).  
        (*The experimenter cannot directly manipulate the degree of mental retardation in the participants;
however, the experimenter could indirectly manipulate this through the recruitment procedure (i.e., recruit
children with mild and moderate levels of mental retardation and children who are of normal
intelligence).  For this reason, defining IV's as the variable researchers manipulate can be confusing and
limiting because it does not include pre-existing independent variables such as the sex or age of a person.)
2) Dependent Variable  
        The dependent variable (DV) is the variable that is hypothesized to change in response to the IV.  It is
the variable that is hypothesized to be influenced by the IV.  The DV is often a score of some sort but
NOT ALWAYS.  
        In our sugar experiment, "scores on the memorization task" would be the dependent variable because
that is what is hypothesized to change because of or be influenced by (in this case, improve) the
independent variable of sugar. 
        In the other example above, "score on a spelling test" would be the DV because it is hypothesized to
change in response to whether or not one has mental retardation.  
        A study can have more than one IV and more than one DV.  
          Click here for a quiz on IV's and DV's. 

http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/phases.html

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