hypothesis answer the research question

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Research: Articulating Questions, Generating Hypotheses, and Choosing Study Designs

Mary p tully.

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Address correspondence to: Dr Mary P Tully, Manchester Pharmacy School, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT UK, e-mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

Articulating a clear and concise research question is fundamental to conducting a robust and useful research study. Although “getting stuck into” the data collection is the exciting part of research, this preparation stage is crucial. Clear and concise research questions are needed for a number of reasons. Initially, they are needed to enable you to search the literature effectively. They will allow you to write clear aims and generate hypotheses. They will also ensure that you can select the most appropriate research design for your study.

This paper begins by describing the process of articulating clear and concise research questions, assuming that you have minimal experience. It then describes how to choose research questions that should be answered and how to generate study aims and hypotheses from your questions. Finally, it describes briefly how your question will help you to decide on the research design and methods best suited to answering it.

TURNING CURIOSITY INTO QUESTIONS

A research question has been described as “the uncertainty that the investigator wants to resolve by performing her study” 1 or “a logical statement that progresses from what is known or believed to be true to that which is unknown and requires validation”. 2 Developing your question usually starts with having some general ideas about the areas within which you want to do your research. These might flow from your clinical work, for example. You might be interested in finding ways to improve the pharmaceutical care of patients on your wards. Alternatively, you might be interested in identifying the best antihypertensive agent for a particular subgroup of patients. Lipowski 2 described in detail how work as a practising pharmacist can be used to great advantage to generate interesting research questions and hence useful research studies. Ideas could come from questioning received wisdom within your clinical area or the rationale behind quick fixes or workarounds, or from wanting to improve the quality, safety, or efficiency of working practice.

Alternatively, your ideas could come from searching the literature to answer a query from a colleague. Perhaps you could not find a published answer to the question you were asked, and so you want to conduct some research yourself. However, just searching the literature to generate questions is not to be recommended for novices—the volume of material can feel totally overwhelming.

Use a research notebook, where you regularly write ideas for research questions as you think of them during your clinical practice or after reading other research papers. It has been said that the best way to have a great idea is to have lots of ideas and then choose the best. The same would apply to research questions!

When you first identify your area of research interest, it is likely to be either too narrow or too broad. Narrow questions (such as “How is drug X prescribed for patients with condition Y in my hospital?”) are usually of limited interest to anyone other than the researcher. Broad questions (such as “How can pharmacists provide better patient care?”) must be broken down into smaller, more manageable questions. If you are interested in how pharmacists can provide better care, for example, you might start to narrow that topic down to how pharmacists can provide better care for one condition (such as affective disorders) for a particular subgroup of patients (such as teenagers). Then you could focus it even further by considering a specific disorder (depression) and a particular type of service that pharmacists could provide (improving patient adherence). At this stage, you could write your research question as, for example, “What role, if any, can pharmacists play in improving adherence to fluoxetine used for depression in teenagers?”

TYPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Being able to consider the type of research question that you have generated is particularly useful when deciding what research methods to use. There are 3 broad categories of question: descriptive, relational, and causal.

Descriptive

One of the most basic types of question is designed to ask systematically whether a phenomenon exists. For example, we could ask “Do pharmacists ‘care’ when they deliver pharmaceutical care?” This research would initially define the key terms (i.e., describing what “pharmaceutical care” and “care” are), and then the study would set out to look for the existence of care at the same time as pharmaceutical care was being delivered.

When you know that a phenomenon exists, you can then ask description and/or classification questions. The answers to these types of questions involve describing the characteristics of the phenomenon or creating typologies of variable subtypes. In the study above, for example, you could investigate the characteristics of the “care” that pharmacists provide. Classifications usually use mutually exclusive categories, so that various subtypes of the variable will have an unambiguous category to which they can be assigned. For example, a question could be asked as to “what is a pharmacist intervention” and a definition and classification system developed for use in further research.

When seeking further detail about your phenomenon, you might ask questions about its composition. These questions necessitate deconstructing a phenomenon (such as a behaviour) into its component parts. Within hospital pharmacy practice, you might be interested in asking questions about the composition of a new behavioural intervention to improve patient adherence, for example, “What is the detailed process that the pharmacist implicitly follows during delivery of this new intervention?”

After you have described your phenomena, you may then be interested in asking questions about the relationships between several phenomena. If you work on a renal ward, for example, you may be interested in looking at the relationship between hemoglobin levels and renal function, so your question would look something like this: “Are hemoglobin levels related to level of renal function?” Alternatively, you may have a categorical variable such as grade of doctor and be interested in the differences between them with regard to prescribing errors, so your research question would be “Do junior doctors make more prescribing errors than senior doctors?” Relational questions could also be asked within qualitative research, where a detailed understanding of the nature of the relationship between, for example, the gender and career aspirations of clinical pharmacists could be sought.

Once you have described your phenomena and have identified a relationship between them, you could ask about the causes of that relationship. You may be interested to know whether an intervention or some other activity has caused a change in your variable, and your research question would be about causality. For example, you may be interested in asking, “Does captopril treatment reduce blood pressure?” Generally, however, if you ask a causality question about a medication or any other health care intervention, it ought to be rephrased as a causality–comparative question. Without comparing what happens in the presence of an intervention with what happens in the absence of the intervention, it is impossible to attribute causality to the intervention. Although a causality question would usually be answered using a comparative research design, asking a causality–comparative question makes the research design much more explicit. So the above question could be rephrased as, “Is captopril better than placebo at reducing blood pressure?”

The acronym PICO has been used to describe the components of well-crafted causality–comparative research questions. 3 The letters in this acronym stand for Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome. They remind the researcher that the research question should specify the type of participant to be recruited, the type of exposure involved, the type of control group with which participants are to be compared, and the type of outcome to be measured. Using the PICO approach, the above research question could be written as “Does captopril [ intervention ] decrease rates of cardiovascular events [ outcome ] in patients with essential hypertension [ population ] compared with patients receiving no treatment [ comparison ]?”

DECIDING WHETHER TO ANSWER A RESEARCH QUESTION

Just because a question can be asked does not mean that it needs to be answered. Not all research questions deserve to have time spent on them. One useful set of criteria is to ask whether your research question is feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, and relevant. 1 The need for research to be ethical will be covered in a later paper in the series, so is not discussed here. The literature review is crucial to finding out whether the research question fulfils the remaining 4 criteria.

Conducting a comprehensive literature review will allow you to find out what is already known about the subject and any gaps that need further exploration. You may find that your research question has already been answered. However, that does not mean that you should abandon the question altogether. It may be necessary to confirm those findings using an alternative method or to translate them to another setting. If your research question has no novelty, however, and is not interesting or relevant to your peers or potential funders, you are probably better finding an alternative.

The literature will also help you learn about the research designs and methods that have been used previously and hence to decide whether your potential study is feasible. As a novice researcher, it is particularly important to ask if your planned study is feasible for you to conduct. Do you or your collaborators have the necessary technical expertise? Do you have the other resources that will be needed? If you are just starting out with research, it is likely that you will have a limited budget, in terms of both time and money. Therefore, even if the question is novel, interesting, and relevant, it may not be one that is feasible for you to answer.

GENERATING AIMS AND HYPOTHESES

All research studies should have at least one research question, and they should also have at least one aim. As a rule of thumb, a small research study should not have more than 2 aims as an absolute maximum. The aim of the study is a broad statement of intention and aspiration; it is the overall goal that you intend to achieve. The wording of this broad statement of intent is derived from the research question. If it is a descriptive research question, the aim will be, for example, “to investigate” or “to explore”. If it is a relational research question, then the aim should state the phenomena being correlated, such as “to ascertain the impact of gender on career aspirations”. If it is a causal research question, then the aim should include the direction of the relationship being tested, such as “to investigate whether captopril decreases rates of cardiovascular events in patients with essential hypertension, relative to patients receiving no treatment”.

The hypothesis is a tentative prediction of the nature and direction of relationships between sets of data, phrased as a declarative statement. Therefore, hypotheses are really only required for studies that address relational or causal research questions. For the study above, the hypothesis being tested would be “Captopril decreases rates of cardiovascular events in patients with essential hypertension, relative to patients receiving no treatment”. Studies that seek to answer descriptive research questions do not test hypotheses, but they can be used for hypothesis generation. Those hypotheses would then be tested in subsequent studies.

CHOOSING THE STUDY DESIGN

The research question is paramount in deciding what research design and methods you are going to use. There are no inherently bad research designs. The rightness or wrongness of the decision about the research design is based simply on whether it is suitable for answering the research question that you have posed.

It is possible to select completely the wrong research design to answer a specific question. For example, you may want to answer one of the research questions outlined above: “Do pharmacists ‘care’ when they deliver pharmaceutical care?” Although a randomized controlled study is considered by many as a “gold standard” research design, such a study would just not be capable of generating data to answer the question posed. Similarly, if your question was, “Is captopril better than placebo at reducing blood pressure?”, conducting a series of in-depth qualitative interviews would be equally incapable of generating the necessary data. However, if these designs are swapped around, we have 2 combinations (pharmaceutical care investigated using interviews; captopril investigated using a randomized controlled study) that are more likely to produce robust answers to the questions.

The language of the research question can be helpful in deciding what research design and methods to use. Subsequent papers in this series will cover these topics in detail. For example, if the question starts with “how many” or “how often”, it is probably a descriptive question to assess the prevalence or incidence of a phenomenon. An epidemiological research design would be appropriate, perhaps using a postal survey or structured interviews to collect the data. If the question starts with “why” or “how”, then it is a descriptive question to gain an in-depth understanding of a phenomenon. A qualitative research design, using in-depth interviews or focus groups, would collect the data needed. Finally, the term “what is the impact of” suggests a causal question, which would require comparison of data collected with and without the intervention (i.e., a before–after or randomized controlled study).

CONCLUSIONS

This paper has briefly outlined how to articulate research questions, formulate your aims, and choose your research methods. It is crucial to realize that articulating a good research question involves considerable iteration through the stages described above. It is very common that the first research question generated bears little resemblance to the final question used in the study. The language is changed several times, for example, because the first question turned out not to be feasible and the second question was a descriptive question when what was really wanted was a causality question. The books listed in the “Further Reading” section provide greater detail on the material described here, as well as a wealth of other information to ensure that your first foray into conducting research is successful.

This article is the second in the CJHP Research Primer Series, an initiative of the CJHP Editorial Board and the CSHP Research Committee. The planned 2-year series is intended to appeal to relatively inexperienced researchers, with the goal of building research capacity among practising pharmacists. The articles, presenting simple but rigorous guidance to encourage and support novice researchers, are being solicited from authors with appropriate expertise.

Previous article in this series:

Bond CM. The research jigsaw: how to get started. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(1):28–30.

Competing interests: Mary Tully has received personal fees from the UK Renal Pharmacy Group to present a conference workshop on writing research questions and nonfinancial support (in the form of travel and accommodation) from the Dubai International Pharmaceuticals and Technologies Conference and Exhibition (DUPHAT) to present a workshop on conducting pharmacy practice research.

• 1. Hulley S, Cummings S, Browner W, Grady D, Newman T. Designing clinical research. 4th ed. Philadelphia (PA): Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins; 2013. [ Google Scholar ]
• 2. Lipowski EE. Developing great research questions. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2008;65(17):1667–70. doi: 10.2146/ajhp070276. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• 3. Richardson WS, Wilson MC, Nishikawa J, Hayward RS. The well-built clinical question: a key to evidence-based decisions. ACP J Club. 1995;123(3):A12–3. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Further Reading

• Cresswell J. Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. London (UK): Sage; 2009. [ Google Scholar ]
• Haynes RB, Sackett DL, Guyatt GH, Tugwell P. Clinical epidemiology: how to do clinical practice research. 3rd ed. Philadelphia (PA): Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2006. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kumar R. Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners. 3rd ed. London (UK): Sage; 2010. [ Google Scholar ]
• Smith FJ. Conducting your pharmacy practice research project. London (UK): Pharmaceutical Press; 2005. [ Google Scholar ]
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Research Questions vs Hypothesis: What’s The Difference?

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by  Antony W

July 30, 2024

You’ll need to come up with a research question or a hypothesis to guide your next research project. But what is a hypothesis in the first place? What is the perfect definition for a research question? And, what’s the difference between the two?

In this guide to research questions vs hypothesis, we’ll look at the definition of each component and the difference between the two.

We’ll also look at when a research question and a hypothesis may be useful and provide you with some tips that you can use to come up with hypothesis and research questions that will suit your research topic . 

Let’s get to it.

What’s a Research Question?

We define a research question as the exact question you want to answer on a given topic or research project. Good research questions should be clear and easy to understand, allow for the collection of necessary data, and be specific and relevant to your field of study.

Research questions are part of heuristic research methods, where researchers use personal experiences and observations to understand a research subject. By using such approaches to explore the question, you should be able to provide an analytical justification of why and how you should respond to the question. 

While it’s common for researchers to focus on one question at a time, more complex topics may require two or more questions to cover in-depth.

When is a Research Question Useful? 

A research question may be useful when and if: 

• There isn’t enough previous research on the topic
• You want to report a wider range out of outcome when doing your research project
• You want to conduct a more open ended inquiries 

Perhaps the biggest drawback with research questions is that they tend to researchers in a position to “fish expectations” or excessively manipulate their findings.

Again, research questions sometimes tend to be less specific, and the reason is that there often no sufficient previous research on the questions.

What’s a Hypothesis? 

A hypothesis is a statement you can approve or disapprove. You develop a hypothesis from a research question by changing the question into a statement.

Primarily applied in deductive research, it involves the use of scientific, mathematical, and sociological findings to agree to or write off an assumption.

Researchers use the null approach for statements they can disapprove. They take a hypothesis and add a “not” to it to make it a working null hypothesis.

A null hypothesis is quite common in scientific methods. In this case, you have to formulate a hypothesis, and then conduct an investigation to disapprove the statement.

If you can disapprove the statement, you develop another hypothesis and then repeat the process until you can’t disapprove the statement.

In other words, if a hypothesis is true, then it must have been repeatedly tested and verified.

The consensus among researchers is that, like research questions, a hypothesis should not only be clear and easy to understand but also have a definite focus, answerable, and relevant to your field of study. 

When is a Hypothesis Useful?

A hypothesis may be useful when or if:

• There’s enough previous research on the topic
• You want to test a specific model or a particular theory
• You anticipate a likely outcome in advance 

The drawback to hypothesis as a scientific method is that it can hinder flexibility, or possibly blind a researcher not to see unanticipated results.

Research Question vs Hypothesis: Which One Should Come First 

Researchers use scientific methods to hone on different theories. So if the purpose of the research project were to analyze a concept, a scientific method would be necessary.

Such a case requires coming up with a research question first, followed by a scientific method.

Since a hypothesis is part of a research method, it will come after the research question.

Research Question vs Hypothesis: What’s the Difference? 

The following are the differences between a research question and a hypothesis.

We look at the differences in purpose and structure, writing, as well as conclusion. 

Research Questions vs Hypothesis: Some Useful Advice 

As much as there are differences between hypothesis and research questions, you have to state either one in the introduction and then repeat the same in the conclusion of your research paper.

Whichever element you opt to use, you should clearly demonstrate that you understand your topic, have achieved the goal of your research project, and not swayed a bit in your research process.

If it helps, start and conclude every chapter of your research project by providing additional information on how you’ve or will address the hypothesis or research question.

You should also include the aims and objectives of coming up with the research question or formulating the hypothesis. Doing so will go a long way to demonstrate that you have a strong focus on the research issue at hand. 

Research Questions vs Hypothesis: Conclusion 

If you need help with coming up with research questions, formulating a hypothesis, and completing your research paper writing , feel free to talk to us. 

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

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Research Questions & Hypotheses

Generally, in quantitative studies, reviewers expect hypotheses rather than research questions. However, both research questions and hypotheses serve different purposes and can be beneficial when used together.

Research Questions

Clarify the research’s aim (farrugia et al., 2010).

• Research often begins with an interest in a topic, but a deep understanding of the subject is crucial to formulate an appropriate research question.
• Descriptive: “What factors most influence the academic achievement of senior high school students?”
• Comparative: “What is the performance difference between teaching methods A and B?”
• Relationship-based: “What is the relationship between self-efficacy and academic achievement?”
• Increasing knowledge about a subject can be achieved through systematic literature reviews, in-depth interviews with patients (and proxies), focus groups, and consultations with field experts.
• Some funding bodies, like the Canadian Institute for Health Research, recommend conducting a systematic review or a pilot study before seeking grants for full trials.
• The presence of multiple research questions in a study can complicate the design, statistical analysis, and feasibility.
• It’s advisable to focus on a single primary research question for the study.
• The primary question, clearly stated at the end of a grant proposal’s introduction, usually specifies the study population, intervention, and other relevant factors.
• The FINER criteria underscore aspects that can enhance the chances of a successful research project, including specifying the population of interest, aligning with scientific and public interest, clinical relevance, and contribution to the field, while complying with ethical and national research standards.
• The P ICOT approach is crucial in developing the study’s framework and protocol, influencing inclusion and exclusion criteria and identifying patient groups for inclusion.
• Defining the specific population, intervention, comparator, and outcome helps in selecting the right outcome measurement tool.
• The more precise the population definition and stricter the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the more significant the impact on the interpretation, applicability, and generalizability of the research findings.
• A restricted study population enhances internal validity but may limit the study’s external validity and generalizability to clinical practice.
• A broadly defined study population may better reflect clinical practice but could increase bias and reduce internal validity.
• An inadequately formulated research question can negatively impact study design, potentially leading to ineffective outcomes and affecting publication prospects.

Checklist: Good research questions for social science projects (Panke, 2018)

Research Hypotheses

Present the researcher’s predictions based on specific statements.

• These statements define the research problem or issue and indicate the direction of the researcher’s predictions.
• Formulating the research question and hypothesis from existing data (e.g., a database) can lead to multiple statistical comparisons and potentially spurious findings due to chance.
• The research or clinical hypothesis, derived from the research question, shapes the study’s key elements: sampling strategy, intervention, comparison, and outcome variables.
• Hypotheses can express a single outcome or multiple outcomes.
• After statistical testing, the null hypothesis is either rejected or not rejected based on whether the study’s findings are statistically significant.
• Hypothesis testing helps determine if observed findings are due to true differences and not chance.
• Hypotheses can be 1-sided (specific direction of difference) or 2-sided (presence of a difference without specifying direction).
• 2-sided hypotheses are generally preferred unless there’s a strong justification for a 1-sided hypothesis.
• A solid research hypothesis, informed by a good research question, influences the research design and paves the way for defining clear research objectives.

Types of Research Hypothesis

• In a Y-centered research design, the focus is on the dependent variable (DV) which is specified in the research question. Theories are then used to identify independent variables (IV) and explain their causal relationship with the DV.
• Example: “An increase in teacher-led instructional time (IV) is likely to improve student reading comprehension scores (DV), because extensive guided practice under expert supervision enhances learning retention and skill mastery.”
• Hypothesis Explanation: The dependent variable (student reading comprehension scores) is the focus, and the hypothesis explores how changes in the independent variable (teacher-led instructional time) affect it.
• In X-centered research designs, the independent variable is specified in the research question. Theories are used to determine potential dependent variables and the causal mechanisms at play.
• Example: “Implementing technology-based learning tools (IV) is likely to enhance student engagement in the classroom (DV), because interactive and multimedia content increases student interest and participation.”
• Hypothesis Explanation: The independent variable (technology-based learning tools) is the focus, with the hypothesis exploring its impact on a potential dependent variable (student engagement).
• Probabilistic hypotheses suggest that changes in the independent variable are likely to lead to changes in the dependent variable in a predictable manner, but not with absolute certainty.
• Example: “The more teachers engage in professional development programs (IV), the more their teaching effectiveness (DV) is likely to improve, because continuous training updates pedagogical skills and knowledge.”
• Hypothesis Explanation: This hypothesis implies a probable relationship between the extent of professional development (IV) and teaching effectiveness (DV).
• Deterministic hypotheses state that a specific change in the independent variable will lead to a specific change in the dependent variable, implying a more direct and certain relationship.
• Example: “If the school curriculum changes from traditional lecture-based methods to project-based learning (IV), then student collaboration skills (DV) are expected to improve because project-based learning inherently requires teamwork and peer interaction.”
• Hypothesis Explanation: This hypothesis presumes a direct and definite outcome (improvement in collaboration skills) resulting from a specific change in the teaching method.
• Example : “Students who identify as visual learners will score higher on tests that are presented in a visually rich format compared to tests presented in a text-only format.”
• Explanation : This hypothesis aims to describe the potential difference in test scores between visual learners taking visually rich tests and text-only tests, without implying a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
• Example : “Teaching method A will improve student performance more than method B.”
• Explanation : This hypothesis compares the effectiveness of two different teaching methods, suggesting that one will lead to better student performance than the other. It implies a direct comparison but does not necessarily establish a causal mechanism.
• Example : “Students with higher self-efficacy will show higher levels of academic achievement.”
• Explanation : This hypothesis predicts a relationship between the variable of self-efficacy and academic achievement. Unlike a causal hypothesis, it does not necessarily suggest that one variable causes changes in the other, but rather that they are related in some way.

Tips for developing research questions and hypotheses for research studies

• Perform a systematic literature review (if one has not been done) to increase knowledge and familiarity with the topic and to assist with research development.
• Learn about current trends and technological advances on the topic.
• Seek careful input from experts, mentors, colleagues, and collaborators to refine your research question as this will aid in developing the research question and guide the research study.
• Use the FINER criteria in the development of the research question.
• Ensure that the research question follows PICOT format.
• Develop a research hypothesis from the research question.
• Ensure that the research question and objectives are answerable, feasible, and clinically relevant.

If your research hypotheses are derived from your research questions, particularly when multiple hypotheses address a single question, it’s recommended to use both research questions and hypotheses. However, if this isn’t the case, using hypotheses over research questions is advised. It’s important to note these are general guidelines, not strict rules. If you opt not to use hypotheses, consult with your supervisor for the best approach.

Farrugia, P., Petrisor, B. A., Farrokhyar, F., & Bhandari, M. (2010). Practical tips for surgical research: Research questions, hypotheses and objectives.  Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie ,  53 (4), 278–281.

Hulley, S. B., Cummings, S. R., Browner, W. S., Grady, D., & Newman, T. B. (2007). Designing clinical research. Philadelphia.

Panke, D. (2018). Research design & method selection: Making good choices in the social sciences.  Research Design & Method Selection , 1-368.

educational research techniques

Research techniques and education.

Research Purpose, Hypotheses, and Questions

Four key components to a research project are the purpose statement, research questions, hypotheses, and research objectives. In this post, we will define each of these.

Definitions

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between college completion and organizational commitment of undergraduate students in Thailand. 

Here is an example of a qualitative purpose statement.

The purpose of this study is to explore student experiences at a university in Thailand about completing their tertiary degree.

Both of these examples are short one-sentence responses to what the study will attempt to do. This is a critical first step in shaping the study.

Research Question

The research question(s) in a quantitative or qualitative study narrows the purpose down to a specific question(s) for the researcher to find answers. Below are examples from both the quantitative and qualitative perspective. We are continuing the research themes from the previous section on the purpose statement.

Quantitative

Does organizational commitment affect college completion of students?

Qualitative

What kinds of experiences have students had while completing their degree?

On closer examination, you may have noticed that the research questions sound a lot like the purpose statement. Research questions often split a part a long complex purpose statement into several questions. This is why questions sound so redundant when compared to the purpose statement. Despite this apparent problem, this thought process helps researchers to organize their thinking and proceed in a manner that is much more efficient.

The next two components only relate to quantitative research and they are the hypotheses and research objective(s). For this reason our illustration of qualitative concepts will stop at this point.

Hypotheses are statements a researcher makes about the potential outcome(s) of a study based on the examination of literature. Below is an example from the same theme as before.

Students who have a higher perception of organizational commitment will also have a higher likelihood of completing college.

Again, the wording of the research questions, hypotheses and purpose statement are similarly. The difference is only slightly and is due to context. Seeing these similarities quickly will help you to move faster in finishing a study. The difference between these elements is a matter of perspective rather than a strong difference, as they do sound awfully similar.

Research Objectives

Research objectives are the goals a researcher has for a study. This component is not always included in a study. Below is an example.

To examine the correlation between organizational commitment and the rate of college completion

Share this:

10 thoughts on “ research purpose, hypotheses, and questions ”.

This is the wrong use of the word, it should be “their” not “there”.

The purpose of this study is to explore student experiences at a university in Thailand about completing there tertiary degree.

Whoops, thanks for catching that

Thank you for this, very helpful 🙂

This has been helpful.

This was helpful. Thank you

Pingback: Developing a Data Analysis Plan | educational research techniques

This was helpful.

Glad to be of service

As an emerging researcher, my worry is that I have six objectives but five research questions and hypotheses. Am I correct or they must all be the same in times of numbers? Thank you

Thank you, this information helped me so much.

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Hypothesis vs. Research Question

What's the difference.

Hypothesis and research question are both essential components of the scientific research process, but they serve different purposes. A research question is a broad inquiry that aims to explore a specific topic or problem. It is often open-ended and seeks to gather information and generate knowledge. On the other hand, a hypothesis is a specific statement that predicts the relationship between variables or the outcome of a study. It is based on existing knowledge or theories and is testable through empirical research. While a research question guides the overall direction of a study, a hypothesis provides a more focused and specific prediction that can be tested and validated.

Further Detail

Introduction.

When conducting research, whether in the scientific or social sciences realm, it is essential to have a clear direction and purpose. Two key components that help guide the research process are the hypothesis and research question. While both serve as important tools in formulating and conducting research, they differ in their nature, purpose, and structure. In this article, we will explore the attributes of hypothesis and research question, highlighting their similarities and differences.

A hypothesis is a statement that proposes a relationship between variables or predicts an outcome based on existing knowledge or theories. It is an educated guess or assumption that guides the research process and helps researchers test their theories. Hypotheses are typically formulated in a declarative form, stating the expected relationship or outcome.

One of the key attributes of a hypothesis is that it is testable. This means that it can be empirically examined and either supported or rejected through data analysis. A hypothesis should be specific and precise, clearly defining the variables involved and the expected relationship between them. It should also be falsifiable, meaning that it can be proven wrong if the data does not support it.

Hypotheses are often used in quantitative research, where researchers aim to measure and analyze data to draw conclusions. They provide a framework for designing experiments or surveys and guide the collection and analysis of data. Hypotheses can be either directional, predicting the direction of the relationship between variables, or non-directional, suggesting that a relationship exists without specifying its direction.

For example, in a study examining the effects of exercise on mental health, a directional hypothesis could be: "Increased physical exercise will lead to a decrease in symptoms of anxiety." On the other hand, a non-directional hypothesis could be: "There is a relationship between physical exercise and symptoms of anxiety."

Research Question

A research question, on the other hand, is an inquiry that guides the research process and seeks to explore a specific topic or phenomenon. It is a broad, open-ended question that does not propose a specific relationship or outcome. Research questions are often used in qualitative research, where the focus is on understanding and interpreting social phenomena.

Unlike hypotheses, research questions do not require a definitive answer or prediction. Instead, they aim to explore and generate knowledge about a particular subject. Research questions are often formulated using words like "how," "what," "why," or "in what way," indicating the intention to investigate and understand a phenomenon.

Research questions are typically more flexible and adaptable than hypotheses. They allow researchers to explore multiple perspectives and gather rich, in-depth data. Research questions can evolve and change throughout the research process as new insights emerge. They provide a framework for qualitative data collection methods such as interviews, observations, or focus groups.

For example, in a study exploring the experiences of individuals living with chronic pain, a research question could be: "How do individuals with chronic pain cope with their condition on a daily basis?" This question allows for a comprehensive exploration of coping mechanisms, experiences, and challenges faced by individuals living with chronic pain.

Similarities and Differences

While hypotheses and research questions serve distinct purposes, they also share some similarities. Both hypotheses and research questions are essential components of the research process, providing a clear focus and direction. They both aim to guide the research and generate new knowledge. Additionally, both hypotheses and research questions should be grounded in existing literature and theories, ensuring that the research contributes to the existing body of knowledge.

However, the main difference between hypotheses and research questions lies in their structure and purpose. Hypotheses are more specific and focused, proposing a relationship or outcome that can be tested and analyzed quantitatively. They are often used in experimental or survey-based research designs. On the other hand, research questions are broader and open-ended, allowing for qualitative exploration and interpretation of social phenomena. They are commonly used in qualitative research designs.

Another difference is that hypotheses are often derived from research questions. Researchers start with a research question and then formulate a hypothesis based on existing knowledge and theories. The hypothesis provides a more specific and testable statement that can be examined through data analysis. In this way, hypotheses can be seen as a more refined version of research questions, focusing on a specific aspect of the research topic.

Furthermore, hypotheses are more commonly used in deductive research, where researchers start with a theory and test it through empirical evidence. Research questions, on the other hand, are often used in inductive research, where researchers gather data and generate theories or explanations based on the observed patterns or themes.

It is important to note that both hypotheses and research questions can coexist in a research study. In some cases, a study may have both a research question and a hypothesis. The research question provides a broader context and exploration of the topic, while the hypothesis allows for a more focused investigation of a specific relationship or outcome.

In conclusion, hypotheses and research questions are vital components of the research process, providing guidance and direction. While they share similarities in terms of their contribution to knowledge generation and grounding in existing literature, they differ in their structure, purpose, and application. Hypotheses are specific, testable statements that propose a relationship or outcome, often used in quantitative research. Research questions, on the other hand, are broad, open-ended inquiries that guide qualitative research and aim to explore and understand social phenomena. Both hypotheses and research questions play crucial roles in advancing research and expanding our understanding of the world.

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