Hypothesis Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Working hypothesis== {{main|Working hypothesis}} A [[working hypothesis]] is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further research<ref>''Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine''. [http://www.answers.com/topic/working-hypothesis Eprint] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127203204/http://www.answers.com/topic/working-hypothesis |date=2011-11-27 }} via Answers.com.</ref> in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails.<ref name=Century>See in "hypothesis", ''[[Century Dictionary]] Supplement'', v. 1, 1909, New York: [[The Century Company]]. Reprinted, [https://archive.org/stream/centurydictionar11whituoft#page/616/mode/1up v. 11, p. 616] (via ''Internet Archive'') of the ''Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia'', 1911. {{quote|'''hypothesis''' [...]β'''Working hypothesis''', a hypothesis suggested or supported in some measure by features of observed facts, from which consequences may be deduced which can be tested by experiment and special observations, and which it is proposed to subject to an extended course of such investigation, with the hope that, even should the hypothesis thus be overthrown, such research may lead to a tenable theory.}}</ref> Like all hypotheses, a working hypothesis is constructed as a statement of expectations, which can be linked to the [[exploratory research]] purpose in empirical investigation. Working hypotheses are often used as a [[conceptual framework]] in qualitative research.<ref> {{cite journal |author= [[Patricia M. Shields]], Hassan Tajalli |year=2006 |title=Intermediate Theory: The Missing Link in Successful Student Scholarship |url=http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/39/ |journal=Journal of Public Affairs Education |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=313β334 |doi=10.1080/15236803.2006.12001438 |s2cid=141201197 }}</ref><ref> {{cite book |author= [[Patricia M. Shields]] |year=1998 |chapter=Pragmatism As a Philosophy of Science: A Tool For Public Administration |url=http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/33/ |editor=Jay D. White |title=Research in Public Administration |volume=4 |pages=195β225 [211] |isbn=1-55938-888-9 }}</ref> The provisional nature of working hypotheses makes them useful as an organizing device in applied research. Here they act like a useful guide to address problems that are still in a formative phase.<ref>[[Patricia M. Shields]] and Nandhini Rangarajan. 2013. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tVYbAgAAQBAJ ''A Playbook for Research Methods: Integrating Conceptual Frameworks and Project Management'']{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. pp. 109β157</ref> In recent years, philosophers of science have tried to integrate the various approaches to evaluating hypotheses, and the scientific method in general, to form a more complete system that integrates the individual concerns of each approach. Notably, [[Imre Lakatos]] and [[Paul Feyerabend]], Karl Popper's colleague and student, respectively, have produced novel attempts at such a synthesis. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page