Reviewing Mixed Methods - Essay Example

This statement is the hypothesis. A hypothesis is not always necessary for a study because “some areas of research are too new to warrant tests of hypotheses or the findings are so mixed that a specific hypothesis is not supported by the literature” (Cengage Learning, 2005b). However, they are a feature of the hypothetico-deductive scientific method. When testing a hypothesis, we do not necessarily predict the outcome of one variable based on a change in another, though this may also be the case.

But herein lies the difference between a hypothesis and a prediction because testing a hypothesis can alternatively be concerned for example, with whether or not effects actually occur, whether some treatments have effects on an outcome measure, or groups differ from each other (Cengage Learning, 2005a). In short, a hypothesis concerns “a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables” (Gross, 1996), which may or may not be a predictable cause and effect relationship.

In factorial designs for example, a hypothesis “typically involves an interaction between your Ivs” (Cengage Learning, 2005b) i.e. the independent variables. Thus, a hypothesis allows a prediction to be made, but it is not itself a prediction, whereas a prediction is the expected result of an experiment based on a given hypothesis (Hays, 1999). This distinction between a hypothesis and a prediction is often unclear (Singer, 2007) in students. The accuracy of a prediction related to a hypothesis could give a strong indication that the hypothesis is true (and so the null hypothesis is to be rejected).

At the heart of research through hypothesis formation and testing is the drive for scientific exploration. However, when several hypotheses arise together we are dealing with broader theories. Whilst a hypothesis deals with specific sets of phenomena, a theory constructs a framework of plausible rational explanations for the whole phenomena. The general everyday