Aims and hypothesis'

• Aims- A general statement regarding what a study is about
• Hypotheses- these are testable statements that make a prediction regarding what you think your research will include
• Null hypothesis- A statement that predicts there will be no difference or relationship
• Alternative/experimental hypothesis- predictions that state the relationship or difference you think will be observed in the results
• Directional hypothesis- appropriate when prev research has indicated a certain pattern of results
• non-directional hypothesis- appropriate when there is no evidence that allows a psychologist to predict the direction of the results
• hypothesis- a precise statement including levels of the independent variable and dependant variable (or both covariables for a correlational study)
• operationalisation- operationalised variables are clearly stated, demonstrating exactly how they are to be measured for example the dependant variable would be the 'number of words recalled' not 'recall'
• hypothesis- are NOT predictions, they are stated as fact, hypothesis are accepted or rejected by the researcher based on the collected data, this is in line with the scientific principle of the researcher as a neutral observer.
• Null hypothesis states there is no change (difference) in the measurement of the dependant variable as a result of the manipulation of the independent variable
• alternate hypothesis- states there is a change (difference) in the measurement of the dependant variable as a result of manipulation in the independent variable.
• hypothesis testing- data is collected and statistical testing is conducted on the data, this provides evidence, if the evidence is strong enough the null hypothesis can be rejected and the alternate hypothesis is accepted.
• the alternate hypothesis can be written in two ways, we can give a directional hypothesis (also known as a one tailed hypothesis), or a non directional hypothesis (known as a two-tailed hypothesis)
• a non-directional hypothesis states that there is a difference in the measurement of the dependant variable (as a result of the manipulation of the IV) but not the direction the results will go.
• directional hypothesis- states that there is a difference in the measurement of the dependant variable (as a result of manipulation of the independent variable) and says which direction results will go
• an example of a difference in directional vs non-directional hypothesis writing- directional would be including verbs such as 'increase' or 'decrease', rather than a non-directional hypothesis where it states instead only 'there will be a difference', 'difference' as a standalone verb does not indicate any direction of measurement (non-directional)
• Falsifiability- any theory, even well-established theories backed up with a significant amount of prior evidence have to be open to the possibility that new research will emerge that contradicts basic principles, the more a theory is able to withstand attempts to falsify it the greater the confidence we have in that theory but our confidence can never reach 100% certainty.