A PROJECT ON Hypothesis and Theory Building

Submitted in lieu of B.A.,LL.B.(Hons.) Five Year Integrated Course Sociology-II

Supervised by : Dr. Priyanka Mathur Faculty Sociology University Five Year Law College University of Rajasthan Jaipur

Submitted by: Arpan Jain Student of IV Semester , Sec-A Roll No. 11

University Five Year Law College University of Rajasthan, Jaipur March 2012

Dr. Priyanka Mathur Faculty Sociology University Five Year Law College University of Rajasthan Jaipur

Date: March 16th, 2012

Certificate
This is to certify that Mr. Arpan Jain has accomplished the project``Hypothesis and Theory Building under my supervision. This project is research investigation report in best of my knowledge. This research project is an original piece of work.

Supervisor

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Acknowledgement
I have written this project ``Hypothesis and Theory Building under the supervision of Dr. Priyanka Mathur, faculty of University five year law college , University of Rajasthan , Jaipur. I form no words to express my sense of gratitude for director Dr. Mridul Srivastava ,Joint Director Dr. Mahesh Koolwal ,Subject lecturer Dr. Priyanka Mathur and librarian Mrs. Sanjurani Sharma for providing the necessary guidance and constant encouragement at every step of their endeavour . Their valuable suggestions herein have not only helped me immensely in making this work but also in developing an analytical approach this work. I am extremely grateful to my respected teachers of the college for their cooperation and guidance and their valuable time . I am highly indebted to the office and library staff of the college for the support in cooperation extended by them from time to time.

Arpan Jain IV Semester ,Sec.-A University Five Year Law College University Of Rajasthan, Jaipur

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Table of Contents. Page no. Certificate Acknowledgement 1.Introduction 1.2 Research Methodology 1.2 Hypothesis 2. What is a Hypothesis 2.1 Criteria for Hypothesis Construction 3. Types of Hypothesis 4. Sources of deriving Hypothesis 5. Meaning of Theory 5.1 Characteristics of Theory 5.2 Constructing a Theory 6. Types of Theories Bibliography (ii) (iii)

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1. Introduction
A hypothesis is an assumption about relations between variables. It is a tentative explanation of the research problem or a guess about the research outcome. In other words , a hypothesis carries clear implications for testing the stated relationship i.e. it contains variables that are measurable and specifying how they are related. A statement that lacks variables or that does not explain how the variables are related to each other is no hypothesis in scientific sense.

1.2 Research Methodology

An attempt has been made to make the Project & Project Matter more comprehensible & lucid. Every part of the project is to the point, which has a precise meaning to the title of the project. The subject matter of the project have been arranged in a manner, so that anyone , go through it may find no problem to understand &comprehend the same. The research methodology is quite simple. Doctrinal method is used to make the project. The matter of the project is collected from the Internet and various Books and Journals and entered after the correction & suggestions of the Lecturers &Professors.

1.3 Research Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an assumption about relations between variables. It is a tentative explanation of the research problem or a guess about the research outcome. An overview of criteria for good theorizing provides a good foundation for a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. In a literature too vast to summarize here, scholars have defined more than a dozen criteria for good theory.

2. What is a Hypothesis?
A hypothesis is an assumption about relations between variables. It is a tentative explanation of the research problem or a guess about the research outcome. Before starting the research, the researcher has rather a general, diffused even confused notion of the problem. It may take long time for the researcher to say what questions he had been seeking answers to. Hence an adequate statement about the research problem is very important. The adequate statement is an interrogative statement that asks: what relationship exists between 2 or more variables? Proposing a statement pertaining to relationship between variables is called hypothesis. According to Theodorson and Theodorson, a hypothesis is a tentative statement asserting a relationship between certain facts. In other words , a hypothesis carries clear implications for testing the stated relationship i.e. it contains variables that are measurable and specifying how they are related. A statement that lacks variables or that does not explain how the variables are related to each other is no hypothesis in scientific sense. 2.1 Criteria For Hypothesis Construction Hypothesis is never formulated in the form of a question. There are number of standards to be met in formulating a Hypothesis: 1. It should be empirically testable 2. It should be specific and precise 3. The statements should not be contradictory 4. It should specify variables between which the relationship is to be established 5. It should describe one issue only. A hypothesis can be formed either in descriptive or relational form. In the former it describes events whereas in the latter it establishes relations between variables.

3. Types of Hypothesis
Hypothesis are classified as working hypothesis , research hypothesis, null hypothesis, statistical hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, and scientific hypothesis. Working hypothesis It is a preliminary assumption of the researcher about the research topic, particularly when sufficient information is not available to establish a hypothesis and as a step towards formulating the final research hypothesis. Working hypothesis are used to design the final research plan, to place the research problem in its right context and to reduce the research topic to an acceptable size. Scientific hypothesis It contains statement based on or derived from sufficient theoretical and empirical data.

Alternative hypothesis It is a set of two hypothesis ( research and null ) which states the opposite of the null hypothesis. In statistical tests of null hypothesis acceptance of Ho (null hypothesis) means rejection of the alternative hypothesis and rejection of Ho means acceptance of alternative hypothesis. Research hypothesis It is a researchers proposition about some social fact without reference to its particular attributes. Researcher believes that is true and it wants that it should be disproved .e.g. Muslim have more children than Hindus, or drug abuse is found among more upper class students living in hostels or rented rooms. Research hypothesis may be derived from theories or may result in developing of theories. Null hypothesis It is reverse of research hypothesis. It is hypothesis of no relationship. Null hypothesis do not exist in reality but are used to test research hypothesis. Statistical hypothesis According to Winter , is a statement observation about statistical population that one seeks to support or refute. The things are reduced to numerical quantities and decisions are taken out of these quantities.

4. Sources of Deriving Hypothesis

Following sources have been identified for deriving hypothesis: 1. Cultural values of society American culture, for e.g. emphasises individualism, mobility, competition and equality while Indian culture emphasises tradition, collectivism , karma and attachment. Therefore, Indian cultural values enable us to develop and test the following hypothesis: (i) Residential jointness in Indian family has decreased but functional jointness continues to exist. (ii) Caste is related to voting behaviour among Indians . 2. Past Research Hypothesis are often inspired by past research. For example a researcher studying the problem of student unrest may use the finding of another study that students have spent two or three years in the college take more interest in students problem in the campus than freshers or that students with high ability and high ability and high social status participate less in student agitation than those who have low ability and low social status. Such Hypothesis could be used either to replicate past studies or revise the Hypothesis that the alleged correlation does not exist. 3. Folk wisdom Sometimes researchers get the idea of a hypothesis from commonly held lay beliefs e.g. caste affects individuals behaviour, or that geniuses lead unhappy married life, or married woman without children are less happy or that young illiterate married girls are more exploited in

joint families. Although social scientists are often accused of stating the obvious, social researchers who test a hypothesis based on what everybody knows is true often find that it is not true after all. 4. Discussions and conversations Random observations during discussions and observations and reflections on life as a person throw light on events and issues. 5. Personal Experiences Very often researcher see evidence of some behaviour pattern in their daily lives. 6. Intuition Sometimes a investigator get a feeling from inside that certain phenomena are correlated. The suspected correlation leads the investigator to hypothesise a relationship and to conduct a study to see if his suspicions are confirmed. For e.g. living in a hostel for a few years gives an idea to the hustler that lack of control leads to deviant behaviour. He decides to study hostel sub culture.

5. Meaning of Theory
A theory is a statement held as an explanation of facts or phenomena. It is a logically interrelated and empirically verifiable set of proposition. Since a theory attempts to answer the why and how questions, it tries to predict the social phenomena also. According to Bailey, it is a process which explains social phenomenon by relating it to some other phenomenon. Lin has said that theory explains the relationship among observed activities. Theory is also described as an abstraction from observed reality. It is the mental image of objects. This image is formed after learning about them from actual experience or from information. Thus abstraction is a process of simplification and generalisation which leaves out non essential details in describing a phenomenon. Abstraction from observed reality is a universal tendency and occurs in our daily behaviour. For e.g., take table, forgetting specificity whether it is made of wood or steel or cane, whether it has three legs or four legs, whether it has glass on the top or not, whether it is round or rectangular, whether it is light or heavy we can have a mental image of table and can perceive all tables which are similar but not identical. Thus , building theory is a process of increasing abstraction. Theories are at the highest level of abstraction because we investigate the relationship between proposition. Theories are networks of propositions. 5.1 Characteristics of Theory Cohen has given the following characteristics: 1. It has a set of interdependent propositions. If one propositions in no way effects or is in no way affected by other propositions, it cannot be considered part of theory.

2. It explains the relationship between these propositions. 3. This explanation has a certain level of generality. 4. The propositions are not vague but are empirically testable. 5. The verified propositions have a certain level of validity. The propositions must conform to the following criteria to be theoretically acceptable 1. They must be logically consistent. They should not have any internal contradictions. 2. They must be interrelated. 3. There should be no repetition. 4. They must be capable of being subjected to empirical scrutiny. 5.2 Constructing a Theory How are theories generated? As already stated, a theory can be explained both at the conceptual (abstract) level as well as at the empirical level. Theory may be generated at either level. At the conceptual level, it may be developed with deductive reasoning by the process of reasoning from general principles to particular instances. Deduction is a method when specific hypothesis or particular predictions are derived from broader theoretical principles. If we know that deviant behaviour is caused by gap between goals and legitimate means and if we also know that A was convicted for theft we can deduce that A must have failed in achieving his goal of earning money through legitimate means. At the empirical level, a theory may be developed with inductive reasoning i.e. by the process of establishing a general proposition on the basis of observation of particular facts. For e.g. a businessman observes that the prices of commodities like sugar, cement, etc. rise during election periods (because owners of sugar and cement factories have to donate money to political parties). Similarly, prices rise whenever there is inflation, drought, war. In other words similar patterns occurs whenever a certain type of event occurs. These empirical observations may be projected to a more a generalised situation and conclusion that the price of commodities is related to economic stability. Theory construction thus is the result of combination of deductive and inductive reasoning. Conclusions are drawn by empirically verifying by scientific method.

6. Types of Theories
Cohen has described four types of theories: Analytic theories are the theories of logic and mathematics which state nothing about the real world but consist of sets of axiomatic statements (like A=B, B=C, therefore A=C) which are true by definition and from which other statements are derived.

Normative theories are those which elaborate a set of ideal states to which one may aspire(truth ultimately conquers). Such theories are often combined with theories of a non normative nature to constitute ideologies and so on. Scientific theories are those which contain a set of logically interrelated and empirically verifiable propositions. A scientific theory asserts a casual connection between two or more types of events. At its simplest, it has the form whenever X occurs, then Y occurs. Metaphysical theories are those which are not strictly testable though they may be subject to rational appraisal. These theories have little or nothing to do with science e.g. a theory of natural selection which states that if a species survives for long, then it must possess characteristics which are well adopted or adaptable to a particular environment; but if it fails to survive in a particular environment then it must possess characteristics which make it less adaptable to that particular environment(e.g. fish and outside water)

Bibliography
Ahuja Ram , Research Methods , 2009 Edition , Rawat Publications, Jaipur Rawat K.H. , Sociology Basic Concepts , 2007 Edition , Rawat Publications, Jaipur