Handout 2.4
Checklist for Evaluating Your Hypothesis


State your hypothesis:





Yes
Are you predicting that participants differing
on one variable will also differ on
another?

Can your variables be objectively measured
and/or manipulated?

Can the hypothesis be tested without violating
APA's ethical standards?

Can you produce sound reasons why the
hypothesis might be supported--
and do these reasons come from logic, theory, or past research?

If the results turn out as you expect,
will there be implications for theory, practice, or future research?

* Are you predicting that changing one variable will cause an effect on another variable?
* Can you manipulate your predictor variable?
That is, does it involve instructions, stimuli, or treatments that you can give to one set of participants, but not to another?

**Do you have a moderator variable?
The moderator variable would intensify, weaken, or reverse the relationship between two other variables.


* Necessary if you are going to do experimental research.
** Ask your professor whether you need to include a moderator variable.


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