Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research

Paper Info
Page count 3
Word count 895
Read time 4 min
Topic Psychology
Type Essay
Language 🇺🇸 US

Introduction

The undertaking of research in psychology involves the development and examination of theories. A theory is defined as an acknowledged model which has been established to provide realistic accounts of some universal spectacles. The majority of the theories emanate from continuous monitoring, testing, and other laws, as well as from scientific actualities and verified suppositions. In most instances, the generation of particulate forecasts from supplementary schemes employs the deductive technique. Noteworthy, hypothesis testing involves the derivation of explicit predictions to ascertain a theory’s validity.

Psychology

Psychology is defined as the science of intellectual wellness, which shows mental functioning and status. Psychology as a science is enshrined on two crucial principles (Cresswell et al., 2017). The foremost ideology is that there must exist a measurement, where the hypothesis outlines the variables to be examined as the ensuing role. The functionality is vital because prior to subjecting any case to quantification, it is scientifically proven that it is challenging to achieve nobility and perpetuity. The next psychological concept is that analytical study should permeate and be suffused by numerous hypotheses and theories. The psychical research is validated by employing a testable postulation since it can be evaluated.

There are two main verifiable frameworks for performing research in psychology. Further, there are two forms of hypotheses that can be examined; causal and relational hypotheses (Magill & Hallgren, 2019). Though the two suppositions can be tested together, different approaches are utilized to deal with distinct hypotheses. The causal hypothesis assists the investigator or the psychologist in discovering how manipulation of certain aspects influences the results of other imminent characteristics. Therefore, the causal hypothesis employs random sampling since it utilizes random allocation empirical approaches to study. Conversely, the relational hypothesis studies the magnitude of the frequency of particular happenings occurring simultaneously.

Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a definite impression regarding a particular perception that can be examined to give the anticipated results in research. With the exception of explorative study, the hypothesis describes the researcher’s expected outcomes (Mourougan & Sethuraman, 2017). An example of a hypothesis can read: The research is developed to examine the hypothesis that learners who put lesser effort into studies experienced more nervousness during exams. The mentioned hypothesis can be employed to explore the correlation between students’ schooling habits and examination nervousness.

The foremost function of the hypothesis is to portray the basis for the psychological study. Consequently, a well-thought psychological hypothesis offers guidelines to the investigator on how to do the inquiry or the experiment (Li et al., 2017). The researcher thus gets acquainted with the type of information to gather, the most desirable techniques for data collection and analysis, as well as the method for result interpretation and drawing of inferences (Stanley et al., 2018). Therefore, the researcher’s familiarization with the study logistics depicts the explanatory influence of the hypothesis in conceptual assessments.

During psychological studies, the hypothesis ought to be verifiable and marshaled towards the prevailing knowledge supply about irrefutable aspects and perceptions. Therefore, the hypothesis provides suggestions to the investigator on the probable relationship between the variables under study (Privitera, 2018). Additionally, the hypothesis accords a precise description of a noticeable detail to the psychologist (Giorgi, 2019). This generates a feeling of inquisitiveness which motivates and enables the progression of cognizance in that field. Further, a hypothesis provides the researcher with associative assertions which are demonstrable via scientific approaches (Lyubymova, 2020). This facilitates the determination of the preferable study technique to adopt during the investigations.

Notwithstanding the above, the hypothesis confers the preclusion of the investigation to the reader. Consequently, well-developed psychological research should be straightforward and incisive (Wagoner, 2017). Since methodology establishes the amassed data, hypothesis plays a vital role in guiding the presentation of the findings and drawing conclusions. The undertaking is driven by the researcher’s aim to accept or reject the developed hypothesis. Finally, hypotheses in psychological research are derived from existing models and know-how, hence serving as the functional instrument of particular philosophies that require being ratified (Göncz, 2017). Hypotheses also act as the linkage in psychological studies for theories that need extensive findings or literature to be proven.

Last but not least, psychological studies entail hypothesis creation and testing. Since hypotheses are assumptions and assessing them aids in the development of additional theories, the majority of the research concentrates on the hypothesis’s generation strategies (Levitt et al., 2017). Moreover, the hypothesis assists the investigator in developing the present knowledge with the aim of establishing precursor study problems and theories. Notably, a study hypothesis severs the problem to generate a checkable and falsifiable concept. Therefore, a psychologist has to develop a logical hypothesis during the research design (Oberauer & Lewandowsky, 2019). After that, the investigator continues making reference to the postulation during the research problem conceptualization and solution derivation.

Conclusion

Specialists in psychology often adopt theories to elucidate the behavioral changes in people. It is unethical for people to criticize others, their motivations, intentions, and the reason for some of their particular needs. However, the underlying informal and prejudiced viewpoints are prone to further scrutiny. The development of a hypothesis calls for the deployment of scientific approaches to assess these opinions and presuppositions systematically. Consequently, the investigator of the hypothesis can only accept or reject the assumptions and cannot prove or disapprove of the hypothesis. The rejection of a hypothesis necessitates the postulation of another proposition for testing.

References

Cresswell, J., Wagoner, B., & Hayes, A. (2017). Rediscovering James’ principles of psychology. New Ideas in Psychology, 46, A1-A6. Web.

Giorgi, A. (2019). Psychology as a human science (2nd ed.). University Professors Press.

Göncz, L. (2017). Teacher personality: A review of psychological research and guidelines for a more comprehensive theory in educational psychology. Open Review of Educational Research, 4(1), 75-95. Web.

Levitt, H., Motulsky, S., Wertz, F., Morrow, S., & Ponterotto, J. (2017). Recommendations for designing and reviewing qualitative research in psychology: Promoting methodological integrity. Qualitative Psychology, 4(1), 2-22. Web.

Li, N., van Vugt, M., & Colarelli, S. (2017). The evolutionary mismatch hypothesis: Implications for psychological science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 38-44. Web.

Lyubymova, S. (2020). An associative experiment in the study of sociocultural stereotypes. Studies about Languages, (36), 85-96. Web.

Magill, M., & Hallgren, K. (2019). Mechanisms of behavior change in motivational interviewing: Do we understand how MI works? Current Opinion in Psychology, 30, 1-5. Web.

Mourougan, S., & Sethuraman, D. (2017). Hypothesis development and testing. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 19(05), 34-40. Web.

Oberauer, K., & Lewandowsky, S. (2019). Addressing the theory crisis in psychology. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26(5), 1596-1618. Web.

Privitera, G. (2018). Research methods for the behavioral sciences (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Stanley, T., Carter, E., & Doucouliagos, H. (2018). What do meta-analyses reveal about the replicability of psychological research? Psychological Bulletin, 144(12), 1325-1346. Web.

Wagoner, B. (2017). The constructive mind: Bartlett’s psychology in reconstruction. Cambridge University Press.

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NerdyBro. (2022, June 7). Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research. Retrieved from https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/

Reference

NerdyBro. (2022, June 7). Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research. https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/

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"Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research." NerdyBro, 7 June 2022, nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/.

References

NerdyBro. (2022) 'Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research'. 7 June.

References

NerdyBro. 2022. "Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research." June 7, 2022. https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/.

1. NerdyBro. "Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research." June 7, 2022. https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/.


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NerdyBro. "Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research." June 7, 2022. https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/.

References

NerdyBro. 2022. "Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research." June 7, 2022. https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/.

1. NerdyBro. "Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research." June 7, 2022. https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/.


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NerdyBro. "Hypotheses and Their Role in Psychological Research." June 7, 2022. https://nerdybro.com/hypotheses-and-their-role-in-psychological-research/.