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Characteristics of Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a formal statement that sets forth a proposed explanation for a phenomenon and can be tested through scientific investigation. It should be precise, testable, state relationships between variables, be limited in scope, consistent with known facts, and able to be tested within a reasonable time frame. The process of hypothesis testing involves formally stating the null and alternative hypotheses, selecting a significance level, choosing an appropriate statistical distribution, collecting a sample, calculating the probability of obtaining results as extreme as the sample results if the null hypothesis is true, and comparing this probability to the significance level to determine whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis. Hypothesis testing helps with decision making in various fields like marketing, production, finance, human resources

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2K views3 pages

Characteristics of Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a formal statement that sets forth a proposed explanation for a phenomenon and can be tested through scientific investigation. It should be precise, testable, state relationships between variables, be limited in scope, consistent with known facts, and able to be tested within a reasonable time frame. The process of hypothesis testing involves formally stating the null and alternative hypotheses, selecting a significance level, choosing an appropriate statistical distribution, collecting a sample, calculating the probability of obtaining results as extreme as the sample results if the null hypothesis is true, and comparing this probability to the significance level to determine whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis. Hypothesis testing helps with decision making in various fields like marketing, production, finance, human resources

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Pankaj2c
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HYPOTHESIS, one simply means a mere assumption or some supposition

to be proved or disproved. But for a researcher hypothesis is a formal question that he intends to resolve. Thus a hypothesis may be defined as a proposition or a set of proposition set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide some investigation or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts. Quite often a research hypothesis is a predictive statement, capable of being tested by scientific methods, that relates an independent variable to some dependent variable. For example, consider statements like the following ones: Students who receive counselling will show a greater increase in creativity than students not receiving counselling Or the automobile A is performing as well as automobile B. These are hypotheses capable of being objectively verified and tested. Thus, we may conclude that a hypothesis states what we are looking for and it is a proposition which can be put to a test to determine its validity.

Characteristics of hypothesis:
Hypothesis must possess the following characteristics: (i) Hypothesis should be clear and precise. If the hypothesis is not clear and precise, the inferences drawn on its basis cannot be taken as reliable. (ii) Hypothesis should be capable of being tested. In a swamp of untestable hypotheses, many a time the research programmes have bogged down. Some prior study may be done by researcher in order to make hypothesis a testable one. A hypothesis is testable if other deductions can be made from it which, in turn, can be confirmed or disproved by observation.1 (iii) Hypothesis should state relationship between variables, if it happens to be a relational hypothesis. (iv) Hypothesis should be limited in scope and must be specific. A researcher must remember that narrower hypotheses are generally more testable and he should develop such hypotheses. (v) Hypothesis should be stated as far as possible in most simple terms so that the same is easily understandable by all concerned. But one must remember that simplicity of hypothesis has nothing to do with its significance. (vi) Hypothesis should be consistent with most known facts i.e., it must be consistent with a substantial body of established facts. In other words, it should be one which judges accept as being the most likely. (vii) Hypothesis should be amenable to testing within a reasonable time. One should not use even an excellent hypothesis, if the same cannot be tested in reasonable time for one cannot spend a life-time collecting data to test it. (viii) Hypothesis must explain the facts that gave rise to the need for explanation. This means that by using the hypothesis plus other known and accepted generalizations, one should be able to deduce the original problem condition. Thus hypothesis must actually explain what it claims to explain; it should have empirical reference.

PROCEDURE FOR HYPOTHESIS TESTING


To test a hypothesis means to tell whether or not the hypothesis seems to be valid. In hypothesis testing the main question is: whether to accept the null hypothesis or not to accept the null hypothesis? Procedure for hypothesis testing refers to all those steps that we undertake for making a choice between the two actions i.e., rejection and acceptance of a null hypothesis. The various steps involved in hypothesis testing are stated below: (i) Making a formal statement: The step consists in making a formal statement of the null hypothesis (H0) and also of the alternative hypothesis (Ha). This means that hypotheses should be clearly stated, considering the nature of the research problem. The formulation of hypotheses is an important step which must be accomplished with due care in accordance with the object and nature of the problem under consideration. It also indicates whether

we should use a one-tailed test or a two-tailed test. If Ha is of the type greater than (or of the type lesser than), we use a one-tailed test, but when Ha is of the type whether greater or smaller then we use a two-tailed test. (ii) Selecting a significance level: The hypotheses are tested on a pre-determined level of significance and as such the same should be specified. Generally, in practice, either 5% level or 1% level is adopted for the purpose. The factors that affect the level of significance are: (a) the magnitude of the difference between sample means; (b) the size of the samples; (c) the variability of measurements within samples; and (d) whether the hypothesis is directional or non-directional (A directional hypothesis is one which predicts the direction of the difference between, say, means). In brief, the level of significance must be adequate in the context of the purpose and nature of enquiry. (iii) Deciding the distribution to use: After deciding the level of significance, the next step in hypothesis testing is to determine the appropriate sampling distribution. The choice generally remains between normal distribution and the t-distribution. The rules for selecting the correct distribution are similar to those which we have stated earlier in the context of estimation. (iv) Selecting a random sample and computing an appropriate value: Another step is to select a random sample(s) and compute an appropriate value from the sample data concerning the test statistic utilizing the relevant distribution. In other words, draw a sample to furnish empirical data. (v) Calculation of the probability: One has then to calculate the probability that the sample result would diverge as widely as it has from expectations, if the null hypothesis were in fact true. (vi) Comparing the probability: Yet another step consists in comparing the probability thus calculated with the specified value for , the significance level. If the calculated probability is equal to or smaller than the value in case of one-tailed test (and /2 in case of two-tailed test), then reject the null hypothesis (i.e., accept the alternative hypothesis), but if the calculated probability is greater, then accept the null hypothesis. In case we reject H0, we run a risk of (at most the level of significance) committing an error of Type I, but if we accept H0, then we run some risk (the size of which cannot be specified as long as the H0 happens to be vague rather than specific) of committing an error of Type II.

Hypotheses provide the following benefits:


1. They determine the focus and direction for a research effort. 2. Their development forces the researcher to clearly state the purpose of the research activity. 3. They determine what variables will not be considered in a study, as well as those that will be considered. 4. They require the researcher to have an operational definition of the variables of interest.

Hypothesis testing helps in decision-making in real life business, economics,


and research-related problems. Some of the examples are: Marketing: The marketing department wants to know if a particular marketing campaign had any impact in increasing the level of product awareness. Production: The production department wants to know if the average output from two factories is the same. Finance: The finance department wants to know if the average stock price of the companys stocks has been less than that of the competitors stocks. Human Resource: The HR department wants to know if there has been any significant impact of the 360-degree feedback system on employees performance.

Quality Control: The quality control department wants to know if the average number of faults is within the prescribed limit. Economics: Policy-makers are interested in knowing if there has been any significant impact on the performance of small-scale industries due to the opening up of the economy. Research: A scientist wants to know if the average output from genetically modified seeds is more than that from the normal variety of seed.

LIMITATIONS OF THE TESTS OF HYPOTHESES


We have described above some important test often used for testing hypotheses on the basis of which important decisions may be based. But there are several limitations of the said tests which should always be borne in mind by a researcher. Important limitations are as follows: (i) The tests should not be used in a mechanical fashion. It should be kept in view that testing is not decision-making itself; the tests are only useful aids for decision-making. Hence proper interpretation of statistical evidence is important to intelligent decisions.6 (ii) Test do not explain the reasons as to why does the difference exist, say between the means of the two samples. They simply indicate whether the difference is due to fluctuations of sampling or because of other reasons but the tests do not tell us as to which is/are the other reason(s) causing the difference. (iii) Results of significance tests are based on probabilities and as such cannot be expressed with full certainty. When a test shows that a difference is statistically significant, then it simply suggests that the difference is probably not due to chance. (iv) Statistical inferences based on the significance tests cannot be said to be entirely correct evidences concerning the truth of the hypotheses. This is specially so in case of small samples where the probability of drawing erring inferences happens to be generally higher. For greater reliability, the size of samples be sufficiently enlarged. All these limitations suggest that in problems of statistical significance, the inference techniques (or the tests) must be combined with adequate knowledge of the subject-matter along with the ability of good judgement.

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