Aims and hypotheses

• What is an aim?

  A statement of what the researchers intend to find out in a study.
• what is a hypothesis?

  An explanation or prediction that can be tested through research about the assumed relationship between variables.
• an alternative hypothesis is a statement that states what you expect to happen in the experiment. states an expectation of an effect or relationship between variables.
• a null hypothesis is a hypothesis that states that there is no difference or relationship between the variables being studied.
• a directional hypothesis is a hypothesis that predicts the precise direction of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables using previous research. (uses words like more, less, faster)
• a non-directional hypothesis is a non-specific statement about the prediction of a relationship between two variables.
• A directional hypothesis is typically used when previous data/research has been conducted in the desired area of research.