In the process of conducting research, ‘Formulation of Hypothesis’ is followed…

Concept: Research is carried out as a fixed logical sequence in which every step produces the input that the next step consumes:

1. Defining the research problem

2. Stating the objectives

3. Formulating the hypothesis

4. Selecting the research tools

5. Collecting the data

6. Analysing the data

7. Interpreting the results and reporting them

A hypothesis is a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables. The moment such a statement exists, the researcher’s next decision is instrumental rather than evidential — what device will actually measure those variables — because no evidence about a hypothesis can be gathered until the measuring instrument has been settled.

Application: In this item the hypothesis has just been framed, so the variables it names are now fixed. Those variables decide the kind of instrument the study needs — a questionnaire, an interview schedule, an observation checklist or a standardised test — and the instrument has to be chosen and examined for validity and reliability before a single observation can be recorded. The step that immediately follows the formulation of the hypothesis is therefore the selection of research tools.

Cross-check: Placing the remaining stages on the same sequence confirms that reading:

• Statement of Objectives sits earlier in the sequence: the objectives are drawn from the research problem, and the hypothesis is written to test those objectives, so this stage precedes hypothesis formulation instead of following it.

• Collection of Data sits one step later: observations cannot be gathered until the instrument that will gather them has already been chosen and checked.

• Analysis of Data sits later still: editing, tabulation and statistical treatment operate on observations that already exist, so analysis can begin only after collection is complete.

Result: Formulation of Hypothesis is immediately followed by the Selection of Research Tools.