Hypotheses and Research Questions

The development of and the testing of hypotheses and research questions is an important part of the research process. Hypotheses are basically statements about the relationships between variables, while research questions are questions about proposed relationships between variables. A research question shows some kind of relationship or difference between variables. Research questions can be written to explore processes, understand behaviors, discover meaning, describe experiences, and report stories. A research hypothesis proposes that an independent variable has a significant effect on a dependent variable. The researcher has sufficient evidence to put forth a statement of direction or magnitude of difference or relationship. E. Craig and K. B. Wright provide directional hypotheses in their research on relational development and Facebook. A directional hypothesis proposes a difference or relationship and states the direction or magnitude. A causal hypothesis proposes a cause-and-effect relationship between variables.