Lecture
The experimental hypothesis (EH) is a statement about the type of relation between the independent variable (IV) and the dependent variable (DV), interpreted on the basis of a theoretical hypothesis or a set of conditions in the experimental model. It is a causal hypothesis in which the IV is regarded as a causally acting factor.
The EH is always a positive statement. It is opposed by the counter-hypothesis (CH).
The counter-hypothesis is a hypothesis that denies the connection assumed in the EH or is opposite to it in direction.
Even if the task of controlling the IV and measuring the DV has been successfully solved and covariation between them has been established, variant explanations of this connection are possible.
Competing explanations may arise from an analysis of the methodological conditions of the experiment. This is a search for so-called «third» variables (the first two being the IV and the DV), whose presence in the experimental situation could have produced the obtained effect. On the other hand, these are new hypothetical constructs, proceeding from a different substantive understanding of the problem – from the propositions of other theories – which the researcher introduces in order to reinterpret and re-explain the established dependency.
Scientific interpretation involves relating empirically established regularities to a system of generalizations that are not reducible to empirically laden statements (a «breakthrough into generalization»). The path of new explanations is always open – that of competing theories («third» competing hypotheses», explanations other than those from which the EH and CH follow).
Example: (NOT an experiment): how are low intelligence and delinquent behavior related? Options: 1) delinquent behavior → poor organization in learning → low verbal intelligence; 2) low intelligence → asocial behavior (through a deficit of self-control; a low level of generalization or a large number of negative reinforcements from school and family, etc.). An enormous number of possible explanations. One needs to select equivalent groups and manipulate the IV.
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