ASSUMPTIONS
AND HYPOTHESES
1.
The
Definition of Assumptions
People do things
always based on their belief. For example, when people want to cross the street
they will make sure that it is safe for them by looking at the right or left
side. If they do not believe, they will be safe, and it is impossible for them
to cross the street. Another illustration, all of us who study in UNISMA to
improve our academic competences, and we will get post graduate certificate
through studying for two years. So, what did we do before doing that? Of course, we firstly had belief that we can
do it at UNISMA. Unless we had belief, it would be possible for us to do study
at English graduate program of Islamic University of Malang. From these
illustrations, it can be concluded that assumption is our belief to do things.
In this case, the assumption in the research is that everything in this world
works under a certain system. These are the examples of assumptions:
a.
There is a correlation between students’
grammar achievement and students’ writing skill
b.
There is an effectiveness of communicative
drills toward students’ pronunciation achievement.
c.
There is an correlation between
students’ IQ and their achievement in
learning foreign language
2.
The
Definition of Hypotheses
Hypotheses are
statements in quantitative research in which the investigator makes a
prediction or conjecture about the outcomes of a relationship among attributes
or characteristics (Creswell: 2012: 111). These hypotheses are stated at the
beginning of a study, typically at the end of introduction. The investigators also
place them immediately after the review of the literature or in a separate
titled ‘’ hypotheses’’. In addition, Allyn and Bacon (1991:35) stated that
hypothesis is a conjecture or a guess at the solution to a problem or the
status of the situation. Moreover, according to Latief (2012:53) hypothesis is
temporary answer for the research problem. Moreover, according to Saputra (2012:60)
hypothesis can be as restatement of research problem by giving the prediction
of research findings. The following are the example of hypotheses and
assumption:
a.
Problems : Do students who get high grammar
achievement will be good in writing skill?
Assumption :
There is correlation between students’ grammar achievement and writing skill
Hypothesis :
The higher students’ grammar achievement, the better students writing skill
b.
Problem :
Can
communicative drill enhance the students’ pronunciation achievement?
Assumption :
There
is an effect of communicative drill to the students’ pronunciation achievement
Hypothesis :
Communicative
drill can enhance students’ pronunciation
achievement
c.
Problem :
Do the higher IQ the students have, the better their achievement in learning
foreign language?
Assumption : there is correlation between students
IQ and their achievement in learning a foreign language
Hypothesis :
The
higher IQ the students, the better their achievement in learning foreign
language.
3.
The
Types of Hypotheses
According to Latief (2012:54), the types of hypotheses are
a.
Theoretical
Hypothesis
Theoretical hypothesis is the researcher’s
prediction of the finding of his or her research based on a theory or a logical
common sense. For example:
Problem :
Do the sex effect the achievement in language learning?
Hypothesis : the female students would make
better achievement in language learning than male students of the same level
b.
Statistical
Hypothesis
According to Tuckman in Latief
(2012:57), the aim of statistical hypothesis is a statement that has to be made
by the researcher while computing the data to allow statistical hypothesis
testing. It always takes the form of null hypothesis (Ho) and followed with its alternative(s)
(H1, H2). For example:
Problem
: Do the female students make better
achievement in language learning than male students of the same level?
Ho : there is no difference in
achievement between female students and male students of the same level in
language learning
H1 : the female students make better
achievement than male students of the same level in language learning
H2 : the male students make better
achievement than female students of the same level in language learning
As stated Creswell (2012:126) null hypothesis
is the most traditional a form of writing. It is the prediction of what
researcher might study. For example:
Ho : There is no difference between at-risk
and non at-risk students in terms of students’ achievement on math test scores
of the third students in a Midwest school district
Independent variable : at risk students
Dependent variable : students’ achievements
Site : X school district.
In contrast to the null hypotheses
is used when researcher predict if there will be differences based on past
research or an explanation or reported theory in the literature. The
alternative hypotheses are divided into types. They are:
a)
Directional Alternative Hypotheses
In this hypothesis, researchers
predict the direction of change, a difference, a relationship for variables in
the total population of people. The researcher selects a sample of people form
a population and predicts that score will be higher, better or change in some
ways. For example:
Students who participate in direct learning in
four elementary schools will have high achievements score than students
who participate in whole-language
learning.
Independent variable :
learning (direct and whole-language)
Dependent variable :
achievement test score
Researcher site :
four elementary schools
Key indicator :
directional, prediction is implied
b)
Non Directional Hypotheses
In this hypothesis, researcher predicts the
direction a change, a difference, a relationship for variables in a population
but does not indicate whether the direction of this prediction will be positive
or negative or greater or less.
For example:
There is a difference between
varsity athletes in high school who smoke and those who do not smoke in terms
of athletic accomplishments.
Independent variable :
use of tobacco (smokers and non smokers)
Dependent variable :
athletic accomplishments
Participants :
varsity athletes
Site :
high schools
Key indicator: the words ‘’ a difference’’ but the
direction is not specified.
c.
Empirical
Hypothesis
Empirical hypothesis is the first conclusion of the
research which is still temporary as it based on initial interview and
observation.
4.
The
Guidelines of Writing Hypotheses
In writing hypotheses researchers need to include
specific components. The guidelines for writing them are:
a. State
variables in this order: independent( first position), dependent and control
(the third position)
b. If
we compare groups in our hypotheses, explicitly state the groups: if variables
are related, specified the relationship
among the variables
c. Make
a prediction about changes you expect in your groups, such a less or more favorable
or no changes (e.g., no differences), then test prediction using statistical
procedures.
d. State
information about participants and the side of the study but it may not be
necessary if it repeats information stated in our purposes.
REFERENCES
Allyn and Bacon.
1991. Research Method in Education: An
Introduction. United States of America: The University of Toledo press
Creswell, John
W. Educational Research: Planning,
Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Boston:
Pearson
Latief, Moh.
Adnan. 2012. Research Methods on Language
Learning an Introduction. Malang: state University Of Malang Press
Latief, Moh.
Adnan. 2012. Tanya Jawab Metode Penelitian Pemelajaran.
Malang: Universitas Malang Press
Suharsaputra,
Uhar. 2012. Kualitative, Kuantitatif dan
Tindakan. Bandung: Reftika Aditama
