1. Is it necessary to have a hypothesis in every research?
“A hypothesis is a statement or explanation that is suggested by knowledge or observation but
has not, yet, been proved or disproved.”(Macleod Clark J and Hockey L 1981)
A hypothesis is important because it guides the research. A hypothesis is most in order to solve
a problem scientifically. An investigator may refer to the hypothesis to govern their thought
process toward the solution of the research problem or sub problems. Moreover, hypothesis
helps to gather right information required for conducting research.
Although a hypothesis is useful it is not always necessary, especially in case of exploratory
research. Exploratory research is a form of research conducted for a problem that has not been
clearly defined. Exploratory research helps to determine the best research design, data
collection method and selection of subjects.
But, however in case of problem oriented research it is necessary to formulate a hypothesis. In
such researches, hypotheses are generally concerned with the causes of a certain phenomenon
or a relationship between two or more variables under investigation.