Psychology AS · Research methodology. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
An aim says what a study is trying to find out. It is a statement of purpose and usually starts with words such as "to investigate whether...". It does not predict a result.
A hypothesis is a testable prediction. The alternative hypothesis says there will be a difference between conditions or a relationship between variables. The null hypothesis says there will be no difference or no relationship, and that any difference found is due to chance.
An alternative hypothesis can be directional (one-tailed), which states which way the result will go, or non-directional (two-tailed), which only says that there will be a difference or a correlation.
Students call a statement non-directional just because it is about two groups. Look for a direction word such as "more", "fewer" or "faster": if one is there, the hypothesis is directional.
Answer: A directional (one-tailed) alternative hypothesis.
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