1. Lesson 6: Aims and Hypotheses

2. Aims
The first step when conducting research is to decide upon the aim of the study.
An aim is a statement about the purpose of the study and what it intends to find out.

3. For example we may want to research the effects of eating chocolate on mood.
“An investigation into the effect that chocolate has on mood.”

4. Operationalise the Variables
The second step is to decide upon the IV and the DV and operationalise them.
Operationalisation is defining the variables in such a way as to make them easy to measure.

5. The operationalised IV in this study would be how much chocolate is consumed.
The operationalised DVwould be participants score on a mood questionnaire.

6. Hypotheses
The third step is to decide upon an hypothesis and operationalise it.
A hypothesis is a precise, testable statement about the expected outcome of an investigation.

7. Null Hypothesis = This states the IV will have no effect on the DV.
Experimental Hypothesis = This predicts that the IV will have an effect on the DV.

8. Directional Hypothesis = This states the direction of the predicted difference between conditions.
Non-Directional Hypothesis = Does not state the direction of the predicted differences between conditions.

9. Null Hypothesis = Eating 250g of chocolate will have no affect on the participants’ mood.
Non-Directional Hypothesis = Eating 250g of chocolate will have an affect on the participants’ mood.
Directional Hypothesis = Eating 250g of chocolate will mean that participants are significantly more likely to score 80+ on a mood questionnaire.

10. Pilot Studies
These are small scale preliminary studies that make it possible to trial the procedures and general design of an investigation before spending time and money on a full scale study.