Statistics Resources

Once you have developed a clear and focused research question or set of research questions, you’ll be ready to conduct further research, a literature review, on the topic to help you make an educated guess about the answer to your question(s). This educated guess is called a hypothesis.

In research, there are two types of hypotheses: null and alternative. They work as a complementary pair, each stating that the other is wrong.

• Null Hypothesis (H₀) – This can be thought of as the implied hypothesis. “Null” meaning “nothing.”  This hypothesis states that there is no difference between groups or no relationship between variables. Simply that nothing is different than we expect it to be.
• Alternative Hypothesis (H_a) – This is also known as the claim. This hypothesis should state what you expect the data to show, based on your research on the topic. This is your answer to your research question.

Examples:

Null Hypothesis:  H₀: There is no difference in the salary of factory workers based on gender.
Alternative Hypothesis:  H_a: Male factory workers have a higher salary than female factory workers.

Null Hypothesis:  H₀: There is no relationship between height and shoe size.
Alternative Hypothesis:  H_a: There is a positive relationship between height and shoe size.

Null Hypothesis:  H₀: Experience on the job has no impact on the quality of a brick mason’s work.
Alternative Hypothesis:  H_a: The quality of a brick mason’s work is influenced by on-the-job experience.