Wednesday, June 8, 2011

What is a hypothesis?

From Merriam-Webster:

Definition of HYPOTHESIS
1a : an assumption or concession made for the sake of argument b : an interpretation of a practical situation or condition taken as the ground for action
2: a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences
3: the antecedent clause of a conditional statement

There is a definition of hypothesis for children here.

I am providing this as a public service. Recently I received a proposal to review from "scientists" whose hypothesis was actually a list of aims and methods. Perhaps it is wrong to assume that everyone with a science degree knows what this word means?

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