research hypothesis

a statement describing the investigator’s expectation about the pattern of data that may result from a given study. By stating specific expectations before the data are collected, the investigator makes a commitment about the direction (e.g., Method A will yield higher final exam scores than Method B) and magnitude (e.g., participants’ income will increase with more education) of potential relationships based on the study’s theoretical framework and related prior studies. See also alternative hypothesis; null hypothesis.

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Psychology term of the day

November 22nd 2024

population variance

(symbol: σ²) the square of the population standard deviation. It is a measure reflecting the spread (dispersion) of scores in a complete population of interest (e.g., the test scores of all students at a school).