Types of Hypothesis in Research – Hypothesis | Business Research Methods

Types of Hypothesis in Research
Hypothesis | Business Research Methods
BBA | BBA-BI
Management Notes

Hypothesis is tested relationship between two or more than two variables.The structure or format of hypothesis formulation depends upon the nature of relationship predicted by the researcher.

Types of Hypothesis

• Descriptive/Univariate Hypothesis
• Explanatory Hypothesis/Causal /Bivariate Hypothesis
• Directional Hypothesis
• Non-Directional Hypothesis
• Null Hypothesis
• Alternative Hypothesis/Maintained hypothesis/Research hypothesis

• Descriptive/ Univariate Hypothesis: Descriptive hypothesis is a type of hypothesis which is based on data. Descriptive hypothesis contains only one variable so it is called univariate hypothesis.Descriptive hypothesis typically state the existence, size, form or distribution of some variable. It describes the situation or collects the data, same as it has happened without adding our own assumptions or judgments.
• Explanatory/ Causal /Bivariate Hypothesis: Explanatory hypothesis is a type of hypothesis which is used to test the cause and effect relationship between two or more than two variables. The independent variable is manipulated to cause effect on dependent variable and the dependent variable is measured to examine the effect created by independent variable.
  For e.g Increase in age would lead to decrease in organizational commitment.
• Directional Hypothesis: Directional Hypothesis is a type of hypothesis which indicates the direction of the relationship between the variables in the terms of positive, negative, more than or less than.. In directional hypothesis, the direction of the relationship has been specified.
  For e.g Women are more motivated than men.
• Non-Directional Hypothesis: Non-Directional Hypothesis is a type of hypothesis in which direction of the relationship between the variable is not specified. The relationship between the variable may be very strong, but whether it is positive or negative has not been specified. These hypothesis are formulated in cases where previous studies do not exist or indicate conflicting or contradictory findings.
  For e.g . There is a difference between work attitudes of industrial and agricultural workers.
• Null Hypothesis: Null Hypothesis is a type of hypothesis formulated by the researcher for testing the hypothesis. The ‘null’ often refers to the common view of something, while the alternative hypothesis is what the researcher really thinks is the cause of a phenomenon. A null hypothesis is a hypothesis that says there is no statistical significance between the two variables. It is usually the hypothesis a researcher or experimenter will try to disprove or discredit.
• Alternative Hypothesis/Maintained hypothesis/Research hypothesis: Alternative Hypothesis is a type of hypothesis that states there is a statistically significant relationship between two variables.

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