Learner Resource 9: Creating and Using a Hypothesis
In science, creating a hypothesis is an essential part of the research process, as many of you will know already. It is a statement of what you expect to
find, based on previous research and usually makes a single claim which can be tested, such as ‘A dog will wag its tail when shown a sausage’.
In language research, a hypothesis is often helpful but it is not essential; sometimes a more open-ended approach is better. If you are able to make a
prediction or a series of predictions about what the answer to your research question might be, based on language studies you know about, then you
will find this a good way to turn your RQ into a structure for your analysis. You can use a bullet-pointed list of features you expect to find.
If you do not know about previous research which predicts the answer to your RQ, you cannot create a hypothesis off the top of your head or based on
a vague hunch or a stereotype! Keep an open mind and work with just the question.
Here is a worked example of turning an idea into a question into a hypothesis:
General area of language:
Gender differences
Data:
recordings of male and female teachers teaching the same subject.
RQ:
What are the differences in the language used by male and female art teachers?
Previous research:
Robin Lakoff’s theory about Women’s Language
Hypothesis:
Female teachers will use more hedging
Female teachers will use more indirect requests
Female teachers will use more politeness features
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Activity: think of three pieces of language research or theories you have learned about on the course, or look some up in a textbook / on the internet.
For each one, think of a way it could be used as the basis for a student’s investigation. What data could you collect to test that theory? What would
the research question be? What would the hypothesis be?
Study / theory / concept
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Data to collect
RQ
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Hypothesis
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