The basis of a study is its purpose and hypothesis, which are directly drawn from the subject of the research. This means that the purpose of research directs the way through which research should be conducted to reach the goal.

What is the content of the purpose of the research?

The general purpose and the specific goals are precisely defined by the title of the study. Although all parts of research have their own purposes, this section (the purpose of research) objectively describes the following sections.

General purpose:

The general purpose is what the researcher aims to achieve at the end of the study. As a result, the clearer the general purpose, the more obvious the research plan. The general objectives are written in a separate, specific, and accurate statement, with exact words that can be clearly measurable.

When writing a general goal, the time and place of the study should also be mentioned. The control group should also be defined. In general, there are two types of control groups, as follows:

1. The first type deals with the posterior and anterior status of a patient or the sample group. In this regard, the pre and post-experimental status of samples is compared. The problem with this method is that it is difficult to conduct a double-blind study, where the subjects are not aware of being divided as control or case groups.
2. The other type includes patients who receive no treatment or a different type of treatment. When comparing two substances or two devices, the case that is older and more common is considered as a control for the other group. The important point is that it is not reliable to trust the memory of patients in determining their status before the study. Another important point during writing general goals is to define the definitions of controversial words. This means that there can be words in the title or the general purpose which sound ambiguous to the reader.  

Specific Objectives:

As stated above, the general purpose is the sole purpose of conducting a research study. However, to achieve this goal, the researcher needs to divide the general goal into smaller parts. Therefore, the general goal is perceived as the sum of its smaller parts. In other words, the researcher must achieve smaller goals at each stage to achieve the general goal of the study. The criterion to write the specific goals is the operational definition of the keywords of the general purpose.

Practical purposes:

The implication of the research is sometimes considered for a practical purpose. It is important to note that the purpose of research should not address the research design although the general goal originates from the method and type of study. Therefore, the inferred purpose of the study can signify the research design.

What is a hypothesis?

It is a probable and temporary answer to the research question, which is investigated in the next steps of the project.

The hypothesis is a relation between two or more variables that is stated as a declarative sentence and indicative of the expected outcomes.

The hypothesis is a scientific and clever guess, which should be investigated, based on collected data, and then confirmed or rejected.

What are the characteristics of a good hypothesis?

1. It should have the power of a true statement.
2. It should be an answer to the research question.
3. It should be capable of removing unrelated issues to the research questions.
4. It should be clear, simple, and understandable.
5. It could be investigated.
6. It should be in line with truths, confirmed laws, and scientific principles
7. It should not utilize ethical concepts.
8. It should define the study process.
9. It should be stated as a declarative sentence.
10. It should address the research problem.

How to write a research proposal

A research proposal is a draft of the research plan that you must prepare for getting your academic degree.
In the proposal, you introduce the topic selected for your thesis, followed by explaining the importance of the subject, the literature review, and the probable results you expect to reach in the study. Moreover, you mention the method(s) that you will apply in the research. The proposal format can slightly vary based on the purpose you have or your academic discipline.

Components of a Proposal

A proposal is the plan of research and a researcher’s guide for executing the research. The purpose of writing a proposal is to get approval for conducting a research project and make it credible. So it is necessary for the researcher to provide the authorities and those who finance the project with a proposal.

This proposal should contain the purpose of the study, research questions, and methodology, as well as the required time and costs of the project. The researcher should try her/his best to make it easy for the reviewers to understand the purpose and significance of the study.

Before executing the research, the researcher needs to include her/his personal information at the beginning of the proposal. This includes first and last name, occupation, current position, degrees, research activities, and work experiences. Besides, it must provide information on the co-authors such as name, occupation, degree, and contribution to the study.

1. Title

1. A research title should be short, informative, clear, and newsworthy. The title should start with phrases such as design, review, analysis, and model. It is better to include independent and dependent variables in the title. The research title should be up-to-date, relevant to the researcher’s field of study, efficient, and useful. Besides, the topic should be practical and in the interest of the researcher. It should also show the scope and timing of the research, as well as the purpose of the study.

2. Significance of the Study

The researcher should consider the novelty of the research topic, its significance, and the ability of the researcher. Besides, she/he must be aware of the provision of material and information resources, and their cost-effectiveness. At this stage, the researcher should clarify the necessity and priority of this research for the target audience.

3. Statement of the Problem

In this section, the researcher should try to entice the audience by asking tempting questions. She/he should try to create a challenge in the mind of her audience.

Stating a clear, precise, and executable problem is the most difficult step of the research. The reason is that it should be able to express the importance of the problem, the scope of the study, and the general goals of the research. It should also provide a framework for presenting the results of the research. At this point, the researcher depicts the context of the problem. Besides, the characteristics of the problem, its extent, and its possible causes are also identified.

Research objectives fall into two main categories:

• General Objectives: These are drawn from the main research topic
• Specific Objectives: They are drawn from the general goals and indicate what the plan will finally achieve.

4. Research Questions

The research problem can be expressed as a question in both qualitative and quantitative studies, and often the question form of the problem is preferred because it is simple and expressive, since it leads the researcher to answer these questions.

The research questions can be divided into three categories:

A – Descriptive Questions: By descriptive questions, we mean questions like “What is it?” and “How does it work?” For example, regarding the achievement of middle school students in s specific district of a city who participated in a test, we can say: What is the level of academic achievement of middle school students in subordinate districts of Tehran province?

B- Questions Regarding the Relationships: This group of questions considers the relationship between two or more variables. For example, what is the relationship between the concept of self and academic achievement?

1. Questions Regarding the Differences: These questions deal with the different levels of variables and are usually expressed in the following example:

Is there a difference between the academic achievement of girls and boys in middle school?

5. Research Hypotheses

Research hypotheses are rational estimations that the researcher has about two or more variables of his research. Research hypotheses should be informative and reflect the expected results of the research. For example: “There is a positive relationship between the concept of self and academic achievement”.

A hypothesis is never proved or refuted, but only confirmed or rejected based on the obtained data. Hypotheses are logical conjectures. The empirical evidence enables the researcher to conclude that his statement is probably correct and can be reasonably accepted.

6. Literature Review

Every research falls under the same category as the previous similar ones. Therefore, the researcher should study the related literature to validate her/his research by making references to them.  When writing this section, you should:

• Know the framework of the problem
• Demonstrate the similarities and differences between the current research with the previous ones
• Acquire information about the previously tested methods
• Use the information provided by the previous research
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of previous research

7. Statistical Population

A statistical population is a set of individuals or units with at least one common trait. Typically, in any research, the population under study is a statistical population that the researcher would like to study the variable (s) of its units.

8. Sample Size

In general, data represent facts, concepts, or guidelines. If data are in the form of words describing the facts, then they are called qualitative data. But if they are in the form of numbers, they are called quantitative.

9. Data Analysis

One of the following methods can be used to collect the needed data from the statistical population:

Census: In this method, the complete data is collected from each member of the statistical population.

Sampling is as follows: a) simple random b) systematic random c) cluster e) multistage f) stratified

10. Description of Theoretical Frameworks of Research

“Theory” illuminates the realities of the theorems, which means that the theorems can be tested with real empirical data in the real world.

The theory is always presented in the process of “research”. Sometimes “research” is performed to test the theory. In some cases, the “research hypothesis” is taken from the theory. In most studies, analysis methods are considered to be strong and appropriate only when they guide the findings along theories.

It is necessary for the researcher to express the theory of scientists and researchers that is relevant to the subject of research in the research design and to move forward within the framework of the theory to the end of his research.

11. Budget and Services

In this section, the researcher identifies the number of personnel and their type of responsibilities, the total hours spent on the research, and the amount of manpower required for the execution of the project, supplies, and equipment, then estimates the cost of the plan. After this, She/he provides the credit provider organization with a proposal.

12. Works Cited

It is necessary to list all the resources used in the preparation of the proposal, including books, proposals, theses, articles, journals, and scientific papers.

What is a Null Hypothesis? What is Its Importance in Research?

Scientists begin their research with the hypothesis that there is some kind of relationship between variables. The null hypothesis is the opposite of this hypothesis and states that there is no such relationship between the variables. The null hypothesis may not sound exciting, but it is a very important aspect of research that should not be overlooked. In this section, we discuss what the null hypothesis is, how it should be used, and why researchers should use it to improve their statistical analyses.

What is a Null Hypothesis?

A null hypothesis can be tested using statistical analysis and is often written as H0 (pronounced “H-naught”). Once you have determined how likely the sample relationship is if H0 is true, you can perform your analysis. Researchers use a significance test to determine the probability that the results indicating H0 are not due to chance.

Examples of Null Hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis

The null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis are not the same. The alternative hypothesis states that there is a relationship between two variables, while H0 states the opposite. You will understand this better by the following example.

A researcher wants to explore the relationship between the number of exercise sessions and appetite. He raises this question: Does increasing the number of exercise sessions lead to an increase in appetite?

Alternative hypothesis: increasing exercise sessions lead to increased appetite.

Null hypothesis: There is no relationship between the two variables. Increasing exercise sessions does not lead to increased appetite.

Consider another example of how to state a null hypothesis:

Question: Does insufficient sleep lead to an increased risk of heart attack in men over 50?

Null hypothesis: lack of sleep in men over 50 does not increase the risk of a heart attack.

Why is the Null Hypothesis Important?

Many scientists often neglect to use the null hypothesis in their research. As shown in the examples above, it is often assumed to be the opposite of the hypothesis being tested. However, it is good practice to apply this hypothesis in your research and ensure that it is carefully stated. To understand why, let’s go back to our previous example.
Alternative hypothesis: Lack of sleep leads to an increased risk of heart attack in men over 50 years of age.
Null hypothesis: the amount of sleep in men over 50 years of age has no effect on the risk of a heart attack.

Note that this H0 is different from our first example.

Neither H0 nor the Alternative Hypothesis Is Supported

What should we do if we want to do this test and find that neither H0 nor the alternative hypothesis is supported?
The test is considered invalid. In this case consider our main H0, “The amount of sleep in men over 50 years of age does not increase the risk of a heart attack”. If this H0 is false and its alternative is also false, we can still consider the third hypothesis. Perhaps insufficient sleep actually reduces the risk of heart attack among men over 50. Because we have tested H0, we have more information than if we would have neglected it.

Do I Really Need to Test It?

The biggest problem with the null hypothesis is that many scientists consider its acceptance to be a failure of their experiment. They think they have not proven anything worthwhile. However, as we learned from the replication crisis, negative outcomes are just as important as positive outcomes. Although they may seem less attractive to publishers, they can provide important information to the scientific community about correlations that do or do not exist. In this way, they can advance science and avoid wasting resources.
Are you testing the null hypothesis? Why yes and why not? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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