3 Steps To Take For Composing Strong Psychology Research Paper Hypothesis

A hypothesis determines the direction of your research. Any mistake when creating a hypothesis compromises the entire paper. It is therefore understandable that many students get nervous at this stage. To preserve your original or envisaged design, you need to follow the steps as laid down by experts. This saves you time and ensures that your hypothesis is testable.

Step One: Think of a General Hypothesis

At this stage, you are required to think of everything that could go into your paper. Everything that you have reviewed and observed is included. It is a brainstorming session of sorts. It also acts as information gathering phase before the details are sorted. This is the point you will generate the problem statement.

Step Two: Narrow Down the Issues

At this stage, you are required to identify an issue which you wish to address. From the many on your mind, choose one that will generate testable issues. You may do this with the assistance of your tutor or supervisor.

For instance, when studying the presence or prevalence of lice on fish during summer, a student may come up with a hypothesis that states as follows.

• “Water levels impact the volume of lice on rainbow trout”
• While this hypothesis generally good and worth evaluating, it fails to be specific. It must provide a particular direction that will inform your research. When it is refined, it could read;
• “When the water levels in a pond deplete, rainbow trout will suffer more rice”

When it is time to work on the paper, you have something to prove or disapprove. That is a workable hypothesis.

Step Three: What to Do With the Hypothesis

Having developed your tentative hypothesis, it is time to generate experiments. The design of experiments allows statistical data to be analyzed. It is also an opportunity to test the veracity of your hypothesis. It helps you establish whether it will be alternative or null. At the end of your paper, you must make a conclusion whether the hypothesis survived the experiment or failed.

Guidance when designing the hypothesis is required. There are results from experiment that could force you to repeat all the work. In case the alternative hypothesis is adapted, you are forced to develop a new program. This means waste of time and resources. This development of hypothesis and design of experiments are highly scientific processes, a great deal of accuracy is demanded. A more refined hypothesis will simplify your work.