Hypothesis Guidelines

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12bf0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12c203c0.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>SOCIOLOGY 212: RESEARCH METHODS</B></FONT><B>      |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SOCIOLOGY 212: RESEARCH METHODS"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Research Project"><U><B>Research Project</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=125 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12af2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grading Grid"><U>Grading Grid</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="content___structure.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Research Project Handout"><U>Research Project Handout</U></A></div> <div> <B>Hypothesis Guidelines</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reference/Citation Guidelines"><U>Reference/Citation Guidelines</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Literature Review (more examples)"><U>Literature Review (more examples)</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Methods (more examples)"><U>Methods (more examples)</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Results (more examples)"><U>Results (more examples)</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12df0f03.jpg"> <div> <B>HYPOTHESES: Basic Guidelines</B></div> <div> <B>SOC 212</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="795" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 2149 WIDTH="785"><bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 1:  A simple research hypothesis should name two variables and indicate the type of relationship expected between them.  The independent variable usually comes first.</B></div> <div> Ex. 1    Among rats, length of light deprivation from birth is inversely associated with performance in a maze task.</div> <bR> <div> Ex 2: Awkward Version:</div> <div>           College students differ in their levels of free-floating anxiety, and they differ in their ability to form friendships.</div> <bR> <div> Ex 2: Improved Version: </div> <div>          Among college students, there is an inverse relationship between level of free-floating anxiety and ability to </div> <div>          form friendships.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 2:  When a relationship is expected only within a particular population, reference to the population should be made in the hypothesis.</B></div> <bR> <div> Ex. 1:  Among young children, there is a direct relationship between level of psychomotor coordination and degree</div> <div>            of self-esteem.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 3:  A simple hypothesis should be as specific as possible, yet expressed in a single sentence.</B></div> <bR> <div> Awkward Version:  </div> <div>            Administrators who provide wellness programs for their employees project positive effectiveness.</div> <bR> <div> Improved Version:  </div> <div>            Administrators who provide wellness programs for their employees receive higher employee ratings on </div> <div>            selected leadership qualities than administrators who do not provide wellness programs.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 4:  If a comparison is to be made, the concepts to be compared should be stated.</B></div> <bR> <div> Awkward Version: </div> <div>            Low-achieving primary-grade students are more dependent on adults for psychological support.</div> <bR> <div> Improved Versions: </div> <div>            Low-achieving primary-grade students are more dependent on adults for psychological support than </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 6:  A hypothesis should be free of terms and phrases that do not add to its meaning.</B></div> <bR> <div> Awkward Version:</div> <div>           Among elementary school teachers, those who are teaching in year-round schools will report having higher </div> <div>           morale than those who are teaching in elementary schools that follow a more traditional school-year </div> <div>           schedule.</div> <bR> <div> Improved Version:  </div> <div>           Elementary school teachers who teach in year-round schools have higher morale than those who teach on a </div> <div>           traditional schedule.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 7:  A hypothesis should indicate what will actually be studied - not the possible implications of the study or value judgments of the author.</B></div> <bR> <div> Awkward Version Ex 1:</div> <div>           The liberalization of American's attitudes on social issues will take a dramatic turn when baby boomers </div> <div>           reach retirement age.  (Because the hypothesis cannot be tested within a reasonable time frame, it is </div> <div>           probably a statement of implications.</div> <bR> <div> Improved Version Ex 1:</div> <div>           Retired Americans have more conservative attitudes on social issues than baby boomers.</div> <bR> <div> Awkward Version Ex 2:</div> <div>           Religion is good for society.</div> <bR> <div> Improved Version Ex 2:</div> <div>          Attendance at religious services is inversely related with student's cheating behavior while taking classroom </div> <div>          tests.</div> <bR> <div>          Among students, the more one attends religious services, the less likely s/he will cheat while taking</div> <div>          classroom tests.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 8: A hypothesis usually should name variables in the order in which they occur or will be measured.</B></div> <bR> <div> Awkward Version:</div> <div>           More free-floating anxiety will be observed among adults who are subjected to longer periods of sensory </div> <div>           deprivation.</div> <bR> <div> Improved Version:</div> <div>           Adults who are subjected to extended periods of sensory deprivation will experience more free-floating </div> <div>           anxiety than those exposed to less deprivation.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 9:  Avoid using the word “prove” in a hypothesis.  We can never Prove a Theory or Concept, we can only Support or Reject it.</B></div> <bR> <div> “Empirical research relies on observations or measurements that are less than perfectly reliable; they usually involve only samples from populations…  Thus, we do not claim to prove something with empirical research methods.  Instead, we gather data that offer varying degrees of confidence regarding various conclusions (Pyrczak and Bruce, 1998).”</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Guideline 10: Avoid using two different terms to refer to the same variable in a hypothesis.</B></div> <bR> <div> Awkward Version:</div> <div>           Students who receive a literature-based approach to reading instruction plus training in phonetics will have </div> <div>           better attitudes toward reading than those who receive only the new approach to reading instruction.</div> <bR> <div> Improved Version:</div> <div>          Students who receive a literature-based approach to reading instruction plus training in phonetics will have </div> <div>          better attitudes toward reading than those who receive only the literature-based approach to reading </div> <div>          instruction.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>