Suppose a researcher wants to study the effectiveness of a new reading program for students who have not acquired the necessary reading skills by the time they reach the 8th grade. A randomly selected group of 50 students from a local junior high with poor reading skills will undergo a special reading program. Another group of 50 randomly selected students with poor reading skills will undergo regular reading classes. A month later, the reading skills of all 100 students are assessed to determine whether the program was successful.
What is the research hypothesis in this example?
The hypothesis is that the special reading program will improve the students' reading skills.
The hypothesis is a little more specific than indicated by Ms.Sue — that the special reading program will improve the student reading skills more than the regular program.
Ho (null hypothesis): mean change of special group = mean change of regular group
H1 (alternate hypothesis): mean change of special group > (is greater than) mean change of regular group
I hope this helps a little more.
In this example, the research hypothesis would be:
"The special reading program is effective in improving the reading skills of students who have not acquired the necessary reading skills by the time they reach the 8th grade."
To arrive at this hypothesis, the researcher will need to examine the objectives and purpose of the study. They would have identified that the primary aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of the new reading program on improving the reading skills of 8th-grade students with poor reading skills. Therefore, the hypothesis frames this expectation and serves as a statement that can be tested through the research study.