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HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT 103

• Early and correct diagnosis by the doctor.
• The nurse’s careful follow-up of the doctor’s instructions.
• Peace and quiet in the vicinity.

In a quiet atmosphere, the patient rested well and recovered sooner.
Patients who were admitted in advanced stages of cancer did not
respond to treatment even though the doctor’s diagnosis was per-
formed immediately on arrival, the nurses did their best, and there was
plenty of peace and quiet in the area.

HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

Once we have identified the important variables in a situation and established
the relationships among them through logical reasoning in the theoretical frame-
work, we are in a position to test whether the relationships that have been the-
orized do in fact hold true. By testing these relationships scientifically through
appropriate statistical analyses, or through negative case analysis in qualitative
research (described later in the chapter) we are able to obtain reliable informa-
tion on what kinds of relationships exist among the variables operating in the
problem situation. The results of these tests offer us some clues as to what could
be changed in the situation to solve the problem. Formulating such testable state-
ments is called hypotheses development.

Definition of Hypothesis
A hypothesis can be defined as a logically conjectured relationship between two
or more variables expressed in the form of a testable statement. Relationships are
conjectured on the basis of the network of associations established in the theo-
retical framework formulated for the research study. By testing the hypotheses
and confirming the conjectured relationships, it is expected that solutions can be
found to correct the problem encountered.

Example 5.14 Several testable statements or hypotheses can be drawn from the theoretical
framework formulated in Example 5.13. One of them could be as follows:

If the pilots are given adequate training to handle midair crowded situa-
tions, air-safety violations will be reduced.

The above is a testable statement. By measuring the extent of training given
to the various pilots and the number of safety violations committed by them over
a period of time, we can statistically examine the relationship between these two