Hypothesis
The literal meaning of sub-contemplation is ‘pre-contemplation’ i.e. any pre-conceived idea or contemplation.
It is necessary for the researcher that he should not enter any unfamiliar field like this, but on the basis of his imagination, experience or any other source for collection of data, observation, construct a working proposition and Later in the course of research, examine this logic sentence. This argument-sentence is commonly called Hypothesis.
Hypothesis is also called an approximate description of the relationship found between two or more variables. Thus it is a best guess which puts some condition which cannot be demonstrated but which needs to be tested. Before we study the hypothesis in detail, it would be more appropriate to understand what is the meaning of hypothesis and some similar words?
The ‘hypothesis’ is generally considered to be a working argument, or a ‘workable generalization’. This argument-sentence or generalization is tested during the research and it can be true as well as false. Hypothesis has been defined by many scholars and sociologists. We present here some of the major definitions of them. ‘ Hypothesis ‘ is the Hindi version of the English word ‘ Hypothesis ‘ which can be divided into two parts – Hypo ‘ and Thesis. The first word means ‘imagination’ or ‘imaginary’ (Tentative), while the second means ‘statement’. Therefore, the literal meaning of ‘hypothesis’ is ‘imaginary prologue’.
It is generally a statement that is derived from some theory, culture, simile or personal experience. But something new is said in this which has to be tested. Therefore, the topic of research is specified from the hypothesis. But whether any hypothesis is right or wrong, it can be decided only on the basis of actual research. Scholars have defined it in the following way ‘West’s New International Dictionary’ – “A hypothesis is a belief, condition, or principle which is probably assumed without belief in order to know its logical consequences and in this way can be determined by those other To test equality from facts which are known or can be determined.
Gude and Hutt define it in their important book ‘Methods in Social Research’, writing that “The hypothesis looks to the future. It is an argumentative sentence, whose validity can be tested. It can also be proved to be true.” is and is also untrue.” According to ‘Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language’, “A hypothesis is an idea, condition, or principle, which, possibly without any research, becomes the basis of research.” Explaining this in ‘Sociology’, it is written that “The argument to be tested is a hypothesis. “
John Galtung in his book ‘Theory and Methods of Social Research’ has clarified the hypothesis more clearly and mathematically. On a mathematical basis, the hypothesis is generally referred to as P. ( X , X , XX . . . . . . . . X. . ). This means the following: P = Probability (Probability) S = Set of Units, and XXXX = Variables (Variables) According to Galtug, he said that all research consists of the following elements
(1) The unit about which information is being received,
(2) Variable, about which information is being taken, and
(3) Value, which is the property or definition of a variable obtained in a unit.
Thus, according to Galtung, “Hypothesis is a statement of variables in relation to some units with respect to their specific values, and explains how many and what types of variables the units are related to.”
For example, if it is hypothesized that “men are more intelligent than women, then men and women are units, intelligence is variable, and so on.”
is value. Thus in this hypothesis, in relation to male and female units and in relation to intelligence, the values of the variables have been described. F . N. According to Kalijer – “A hypothesis is a statement of the relation of two or more mobile quantities or variables.” The relationships of variables can be of general or specific type. Therefore, hypothetical statements are of these two types.
F . J. McGuigan has defined hypotheses and said that “hypothesis is a testable statement of the efficient relationship of two or more variables.” The above definition is also related to experimental research. In experimental research, the experimenter examines the empirical relationship of facts. Hypothesis is empirical because it is related to those facts which we automatically find in the observation of nature. The variables in the empirical hypothesis can be defined as working. In addition, these variables point to events that can be directly observed and made measurable. These definitions are somewhat technical.
According to Bernard and Phillips, “Those hypotheses are provisional statements about the relations existing in an event. . . . . . ” “
Hypotheses are based on prior assumptions of human knowledge. That is why there is a need to observe and change it. In this context P. v . Young says that “The first stage of the scientific method is the construction of a working or improvised hypothesis. The word ‘hypothesis’ is the sum of two words. There is a preliminary idea in relation to social life, the hypothesis or hypothesis of which research is done related to social life can be one and also many. If the problem is complex, then on the basis of one hypothesis, the research or research work should be reduced further. Conversely, if the problem is simple in nature, more than one hypothesis can be based on it.
Lundberg – “A hypothesis is a hypothetical generalization whose authenticity is yet to be tested. At the initial stage, a hypothesis can be a genius, conjecture, imaginary idea or instinct that can form the basis of action or research.”
P . v . Young – “A propositional idea, which forms the basis of a useful discovery, is considered to be a causal hypothesis. From the above definitions it becomes clear that hypothesis is a hypothetical proposition that seeks to investigate social facts and phenomena and causal relationships in various variables.” We cannot go a step ahead in research until we think of possible explanations or solutions to the problem, say Saltiz et al. When hypothetical explanations are constructed in the form of propositions. If this is done, it is called a hypothesis.
Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis
The formulation of hypotheses is an important stage of research. Therefore, special care needs to be taken in their manufacture. A good or working design must have the following salient features:
(1) Conceptual clarity – The hypothesis should be clear from the point of view of concept, that is, it should have language-related clarity. The meaning of every concept and word used in the hypothesis should be definite and clear so that it can be easily understood.
(2) Specificity and precision – The hypothesis should be related to the specific aspect of the study subject. If the hypothesis is general then it can be divided into specific hypotheses. The delineation of the hypothesis should be done in such a way that it is completely specific and definite so that the discovery of facts can be done relatively conveniently.
(3) Empirical reference – A good hypothesis should be such that its authenticity can be tested empirically. It should not be normative because normative judgments cannot necessarily be proved by empirical methods. In fact, if a hypothesis does not have the quality of empirical provenance, then it cannot be called a hypothesis.
(4) Simplicity – It is necessary for the hypothesis to be simple and in accordance with the context, even if it is not understood by the common person. More simple hypotheses have been called Occam’s razor and many of the simpler hypotheses prevalent in political science and economics are more fatal.
(5) Related to available techniques – A good hypothesis is considered to be one whose authenticity can be checked by available techniques. If it is not possible to test the hypothesis by the available methods, then such a hypothesis is said to be impractical. Goode and Hote say that the theorist does not know which ones are not opposed to each other in order to test his hypothesis. There are techniques available, he has failed to formulate practical questions.
(6) Related to theory – The hypothesis should be related to some or the other pre-formed theory prevailing in the subject and at the same time it should have the ability to refine, support or modify the theory.
Dimensions of Hypothesis
After discussing the features of hypotheses, we should now throw light on the various dimensions, elements or metrics of hypotheses. John Galtag has mentioned these dimensions of hypotheses which are as follows
1. Specificity – From the general definition of hypothesis, there are two types of specifications – one is the ‘specificity of the variables’ and the other is the specificity of the distribution of these variables. Those specific variables are important in this context. . On whose basis the hypothesis is built. The three-sectional hypotheses are more important than the two-part hypothesis and the multi-sectional one is better than the two-part hypothesis. The empirical feature of any hypothesis should be brought to the level of theoretical characteristic, so that the hypothesis is refined with reference to the facts.
2. Determinancy – Within the dimension of this dimension, we present the description of the conditions in such a good way that we can say with certainty that what is the actual position of the units? In social research, determinism is more related to its specificity than a probabilistic hypothesis, and after reducing the specificity of any hypothesis, we can get any degree of determinism in it. The ideal situation is that both properties are included in the hypothesis, but in general the ratio is less in the social sciences.
3. Predictibility – Another dimension of hypothesis is its predictability. Under this, the relationship between the variables is predicted. The ability to predict is not so important in the social sciences as the need to explain social phenomena. In this way, in the light of the facts available during social research, he keeps on changing and revising his hypotheses.
4. Communicability – Any hypothesis is communicative to the extent that other people can understand its meaning and they should also give the same meaning to the hypothesis for the purpose for which the researcher made it i.e. to provide information and to provide information. The same meaning should be interpreted by the recipients. This convection can occur at three levels – the convection of the hypothesis, the convection of the facts gathered in its context and the evaluation of the relationship between them.
5. Reproductibility – A hypothesis is capable of being reproducible to the extent that it can be replicated with its conclusions, that is, if a researcher collects similar facts, he can understand the process as well as Accept it in the same sense.
6. Reliability – This element of the hypothesis indicates that the hypothesis has to be tested on the basis of the available facts, which can be called as the quantity of confirmation. For example, a hypothesis being proved false or not supported or confirmed or proved to be true. These are the mitigations or pryams, which are found in more or less quantity in each hypothesis and separate the hypothesis from the general idea.
7. Generality – By generality, we mean giving a description of the circumstances in which the hypothesis can be applied. The facts established for a particular place or situation are applied to other places or circumstances to obtain generalization. This type of test either confirms the hypothesis or proves it to be false.
8. Complexity – By complexity we mean the explanation of the number of variables used. The most general or simplest hypothesis is one in which there is only one variable. With the complexity of the hypothesis, the number of its variables also increases. This aspect of hypotheses is important enough in the analysis of social phenomena, because the more complex hypotheses are confirmed, the better the analysis of social phenomena. Thus it is necessary to formulate complex hypotheses to obtain more generalizations.
9. Falsifiability – The researcher should present the hypothesis in his research in such a way that the boundaries of its true portion, indefinite portion and false portion etc. are clearly separated. Its purpose is to find out to what extent it is possible to measure the false side in the available facts. As the hypothesis is confirmed, there are chances of its being proved false.
10. Testability – Another dimension of hypothesis is testability or its ability to be tested. Here by testability of the hypothesis, we mean that when the hypothesis is compared with the empirical allocation. So a conclusion can be drawn regarding its truth or falsity. The conclusions of the investigation of a hypothesis can be anything. If that hypothesis is confirmed then it is proved to be true and if its position remains uncertain then it may be proved to be false.