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When a hypothesis has survived a sufficient number of tests, it may be promoted to a scientific theory. A theory is a hypothesis that has survived many tests and seems to be consistent with other established scientific theories. Since a theory is a promoted hypothesis, it is of the same 'logical' species and shares the same logical limitations.
Theory-driven evaluation (also theory-based evaluation) is an umbrella term for any approach to program evaluation that develops a theory of change and uses it to design, implement, analyze, and interpret findings from an evaluation. [1] [2] [3] More specifically, an evaluation is theory-driven if it: [4]
A number of other approaches to reaching a decision based on data are available via decision theory and optimal decisions, some of which have desirable properties. Hypothesis testing, though, is a dominant approach to data analysis in many fields of science.
Testing a hypothesis suggested by the data can very easily result in false positives (type I errors). If one looks long enough and in enough different places, eventually data can be found to support any hypothesis. Yet, these positive data do not by themselves constitute evidence that the hypothesis is correct. The negative test data that were ...
The choice of how to group participants depends on the research hypothesis and on how the participants are sampled.In a typical experimental study, there will be at least one "experimental" condition (e.g., "treatment") and one "control" condition ("no treatment"), but the appropriate method of grouping may depend on factors such as the duration of measurement phase and participant ...
This calls for a need to conceptually switch from hypothesis-driven studies to hypothesis-generating research which is discovery-based. [4] Normally, discovery-based approaches for research are initially hypothesis-free, however, hypothesis testing can be elevated to a new level that effectively supports traditional hypothesis-driven studies. [11]
The hypothesis of Andreas Cellarius, showing the planetary motions in eccentric and epicyclical orbits. A hypothesis (pl.: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess or ...
Philosophers, such as Karl R. Popper, have provided influential theories of the scientific method within which scientific evidence plays a central role. [8] In summary, Popper provides that a scientist creatively develops a theory that may be falsified by testing the theory against evidence or known facts.