Formulating Hypothesis

 At its most basic, the research hypothesis states what the researcher expects to find – it is the tentative answer to the
research question that guides the entire study.

 A tentative explanation for certain phenomena, or events which have occurred or will occur.

 It is the researcher’s expectations concerning the relationships between two or more variables in the research problem.

 A formal statement that presents the expected relationship between an independent and dependent variable (Creswell, 1994).

 Specifying the research hypothesis is one of the most important steps in planning a scientific quantitative research study. A
quantitative researcher usually states a priori expectation about the results of the study in one or more research hypotheses
before conducting the study, because the design of the research study and the planned research design often is determined
by the stated hypotheses.

Types of Hypothesis
1. Null hypothesis (H0) proposes that there is no statistical significance between two variables; it is usually the hypothesis that a
researcher or experimenter will try to disprove or discredit.

2. Research hypothesis (H1) is a specific, clear, and testable proposition or predictive statement about the possible outcome of a
scientific research study based on a particular property of a population, such as presumed differences between groups on a
particular variable or relationships between variables.

Example 1
Research Problem: A researcher investigated whether taking Vitamin C every day for a specific period of time affected people’s
chances of getting a cold.

Research Question: Is there a significant difference in the proportion of persons who got cold between those who did not?

Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the proportion of persons who took Vitamin C and did not get a cold between those
who did not take and got a cold.

Research Hypotheses
Non-directional: There is a significant difference in the proportion of persons who got cold between those who did not.

Directional: The proportion of persons who took Vitamin C and did not get a cold is higher compared to those who got a cold and did
not take Vitamin C.

Example 2
Research Question: Does repeated experience with Civil Service Examination lead to better scores, even without any intervening
study?

Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean scores of 10 takers on four sessions of taking the Civil Service
Examination.

Research Hypothesis: There is a significant difference in the mean scores of 10 takers on four sessions of taking the Civil Service
Examination.

When to reject the null hypothesis?

 In hypothesis testing, the level of significance is the criterion used for rejecting the null hypothesis which is denoted as α.

 On the other hand, the p-value, or probability value, is used as basis in deciding whether a hypothesis is rejected or not
relative to the identified level of significance.
 If the p-value is less than or equal to a pre-determined cut-off, in this case the level of significance (usually α = 0.05), the
results are declared “statistically significant”, and declared “non-significant” otherwise. Hence, the difference between the two
is profound: the level of significance (α) is pre- determined and is part of the study design.

 On the contrary, the p-value is a number calculated from the data, a result of the analysis to be made, therefore it is unknown
until it is computed.

For example, an intervention called Project 100 Pages was introduced to students who belong to frustration level with the
goal of improving their reading skills. Suppose a set of examinations was administered to each of the 15 students before
the intervention was given and then a parallel test was given at the end of the project. These examinations are designed
to measure the reading skills; higher scores indicate an improved reading skills. If it is to be shown that there is a
significant difference between the mean scores of students before and after the intervention, the null hypothesis is then
formulated as follows:

H0: There is no significant difference between the mean scores of students before and after the intervention.

 To permit a decision on whether to reject the null hypothesis or not, significance limits are often specified in advance, at a
level of significance α, usually α = 0.05 is chosen. If the calculated p-value is less than or equal to this limit, the result is
significant and it is agreed that the null hypothesis should be rejected. However, if the p-value is greater than the level of
significance, the null hypothesis is accepted.

 Hence, suppose α = 0.05, and if p-value = 0.049 < α, H0 is rejected; if p-value = 0.051 > α, H0 is NOT rejected.