Crafting Winning Hypothesis
Here’s how you can formulate better hypothesis so as to induce an element of practicality into those ideas, further aiding their testing greatly…
Extending our IDEA series furthermore, we have so far covered these:
the lifecycle of an IDEA & its classification into Good / Poor
how IDEAS possess a few crucial parts given by the “3Os of the IDEA”
Over this post we’ll dive into the next stage of the IDEA, that is the HYPOTHESIS.
Well. To me the difference between an IDEA & a HYPOTHESIS is the same as formulating a structured plan towards doing something & actually taking the first step towards doing it. Over the previous instance one’s still in the stage of planning & hasn’t got the ball rolling over doing something practically, as opposed to inducing a sense of practicality over getting one’s head down, scoping / gauging the variables & advancing over the steps to cover some ground, make that quantum of progress although very minute.
As we already know, IDEAs could be good or poor depending on the set of criteria they tend to satisfy. But once they pass those preliminary tests, they ought to get more concrete in terms of whether or not there are supporting elements, factors those original thoughts hinge on, so as to substantiate the directional course being planned.
Definition:
“A Hypothesis could be thought of as a concise statement that could be grounded entirely in theory yet simple enough to individually represent relationship between two or more things whilst being quantifiable & testable”
Some examples of a hypothesis could be:
Attention span of kids below the age group of 7 takes a drastic hit if they get hooked on to Reels / Short videos
Early sleepers tend to exhibit a better concentration rate as opposed to late sleepers
Taking period & short breaks could make employees more productive
People with sedentary jobs tend to be lazier than the ones with field jobs
Sex education reduces chances of unplanned pregnancies in adolescent teens
Lets’ dive into some of these statements above.
There’s a good chance that the attention span of kids below age group 7 would improve if they are hooked on to the right content if it were to be concepts pertaining to a certain subject that they have a natural inclination towards, when in other cases there’s a good chance that it could impede their ability to concentrate for long hours.
Taking short period breaks as suggested by the Pomodoro most certainly does aid the productivity in general. But then that could be applicable to the ones who have some decent experience under their belt & certainly NOT for freshers who are just starting off their careers.
As in evident, there’s a clear relationship between those entities in question over each and every one of those statements above, thus helping establish a hypothesis, making it feasible to put up a testing ground.
In common practice these entity pairs are given various names like DEPENDENT & INDEPENDENT variables, the CAUSE & the EFFECT. But the underlying meaning still remains the same.
Hypothesis could be of different types, some of which are:
1. SIMPLE HYPOTHESIS
It depicts the way the two entities / variables are interrelated in a plain & simple manner. No additional frills attached whatsoever.
For ex: Reading more will lead to better grades.
The statement plainly says that reading more leads to better grades without delving deeper into the type of reading & whether or not one would need to indulge in some kind of practical application so as to solidify & etch the knowledge in one’s brain reproducing it as & when needed.
2. COMPLEX HYPOTHESIS
An extension of the simple hypothesis it could depict the relationship between multiple variables / entities, which could be closer to the way things work in the real-world scenario.
For ex: Practically applying the knowledge gained by reading & learning along the way would lead to better grades.
As you can see, there are multiple variables / entities here in question right from reading, practically applying the knowledge gained towards solving something of a problem, learning & updating oneself is seen as a great way to getting better grades.
3. NULL HYPOTHESIS
This assumes no relationship whatsoever between the entities / variables. It could be considered a negative statement, an opposite of a hypothesis as it mostly refutes something.
For ex: Physical stature of a person has no effect on the grades.
The size of a person has no bearing on the grades given how it is not the tallest or the shortest person who is entitled to do well academically.
4. DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS
It usually predicts the direction or the nature of relationship between the entities / variables. There is absolutely clear directional sense of correlation, so as to say (from) & (to) in this case.
For ex: Meditation leads to improved concentration.
The effect of meditation is pretty well-known as for the element of concentration. And being able to concentrate could mean better perception, a better mental state.
5. NON-DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS
Here the entities / variables are quoted but their relationship isn’t made that evident owing to whatever reasons. When that could mostly look like a lack of solid information, it doesn’t necessarily have to be so. It is supposed to act as a precursor towards conducting more descriptive research.
For ex: Illustrations & grades are correlated
Conceptual understanding could be bettered by the use of illustrations over the text books. But having said that it is also known that good students could make their own illustrations once they digest a concept pretty well. So, when there is a correlation between the two, there seems to be no clear direction as to whether (x) leads to (y) or vice versa.
6. ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS
This is the opposite of the NULL hypothesis. It just lay out a claim to a supposed relationship between the two entities without specifying their underlying relationship.
For ex: Physical location from where one is studying does tend to affect their grades
When it says a certain physical location does bear an effect on the grades of the person studying, it doesn’t mention whether or not it is a hostel, or a specific geography, or a terrain like say a mountain.
By now, you are already aware that a good hypothesis is a statement with a variable that would be the causation & another variable that would predict what the effect will be. But, what does it take to come up with a good hypothesis?
Its perhaps a good idea to approach / write a hypothesis as an if-then statement but it could get really complex sometimes given the governing list of variables.
Here are a few steps that I have been following for quite some time now & rest-assured, it is a sure shot way to help one write good hypotheses time & again.
1. Start with Preliminary Research
Given any domain, its pretty basic that one ought to have some deep knowledge about it if one ought to be writing good hypothesis. And in case you don’t already, research precisely what you ought to be starting it off with.
Begin by studying the domain thoroughly, exploring each and every one of those nuances deeply & that would then help you identify the main entities, their innumerable touchpoints, how they tend to interact & in what frequency, the impact they would bear on each other.
2. Identify the Actors
A domain / a system in question could comprise of many entities, some bearing a major impact when the others contributing in their own little way although still crucial & effective in their own sense.
The major entities as rightly termed ACTORS given the seminal roles they play in creating an impact. It is important that one identifies everything about those actors in question & how they are coming together towards creating a sustainable value system
3. Earmark the Problem
In the parlance of a domain given the actors in question, it is very possible that there are grappled with multiple problems. But are all of them problems worth solving? A simple & quick answer is NO.
So, it is important to employ a specific brand of research needed towards perfectly mapping the problem, the one that makes sense to & could prove to be lucrative to solve.
4. Define the major Variables / Entities
It is only but natural to perceive that a problem may bear an affect / could connect a few entities closely & could have a few governing variables as well that define the nature of their relationship(s).
Think of these as variables / entities that go on to define a few seminal steps over the workflow depicting how these actors interact with each other over a period of time in helping reach an outcome / taking them a step closer to that outcome.
5. Research about their Relationships
If there are entities, variables, actors it only makes sense to perceive them as being interlinked / related / in some kind of a relationship with each other. When some of those relations / links could be plain / 1-dimentional, which means one of them is the producer & the other is the consumer in a sense, there is also a quaint possibility that they are 2-dimensional / n-dimensional in nature.
Before progressing any further with this exercise, all such relationships between the entities / variables ought to be enumerated & thoroughly run up against the research towards reemphasizing their behavior & attitude.
6. Enumerate the Cause-and-Effect
Now that you have a hang of the relationship(s) between the entities & perhaps know more than a thing or two about their attitudes & behaviors it ought to help you enumerate all those interactions, the steps of their workflow as a cause-effect.
Going by that, you should now arrive at what could be a set of enumerated statements defining the effects linked up with their respective causations as a detailed representation of the crucial steps that go on to define the workflow.
7. Reorder & Prioritize
This final step ought to serve as a refinement exercise. Given the enumerated list of hypotheses represented as a cause-and-effect, it is now important to put them all in an order with the most significant ones on the top.
Think prioritization, ranking, reordering so as to help you meet one primary objective, that is to help thoroughly test out the relationships amongst the variables / entities & help solidify / establish the basic purpose towards driving the whole idea forward.