Lesson 6: Aims and
Hypotheses
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.
• For example we may want to research the effects of
eating chocolate on mood.
• “An investigation into the effect that chocolate has on
mood.”
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.
• The operationalised IV in this study would be how
much chocolate is consumed.
• The operationalised DVwould be participants score
on a mood questionnaire.
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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
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.