RESEARCH QUESTI

ONS

AND HYP

OTHESES

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RESEARCH QUESTION

What is your research seeking to find?

Example: What is the effectiveness of interventions for adolescents who are suicidal?

Can be phrased as the main purpose of the research

Example: The purpose of this research is to determine the effectiveness of interventions for adolescents who are suicidal?

Can also have a secondary purpose

HYPOTHESES

State in present tense

A prediction about what our research is expected to show.

Should encapsulate major aspects of the study Design: pretest, posttest (before and after), group designs (compared

to another group) -Independent and Dependent Variables should be laid out

Example: Compared to children in the treatment as usual group, children in the solution-focused therapy group will show more behavioral improvements as reported by their parents.

HYPOTHESES, CONT.Null hypotheses – there is no relationship between variablesExample: Children in the solution-focused group and the treatment group will improve in a similar way on their behavioral problems (there is no difference between the groups). Non-directional hypothesis

There will be a statistically significant difference between children in the solution-focused group compared to children in the treatment as usual group on their behavior problems.

Directional hypothesis (specifies direction)

Example: Compared to children in the treatment as usual group, children in the solution-focused therapy group will show more behavioral improvements as reported by their parents.

DO YOU ALWAYS NEED A HYPOTHESIS?

No!Not with qualitative research or quantitative exploratory

research where little is known.

CAN YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE HYPOTHESIS?

Yes – as many as you need to explicate each part of your research.