Developing your hypothes(es) or question(s)
In developing your hypothesis or question, experiment with starting broad and gradually narrowing the focus. Work through the sequence of questions below to begin.
What subject?
What general field of study do you want to cover in the course of your research and writing? In some cases, this is self-evident: 'I'm a Biology student, so I'll cover Biology, of course.' However, some projects lend themselves to an interdisciplinary approach, meaning you will link or combine multiple subjects. For example...
- The fields of Medicine and Philosophy intersect when considering medical ethics, which could raise an initial question such as, ‘What are the ethical dimensions of denying NHS treatment on account of lifestyle choices?’
- The fields of History, Linguistics, and Queer Studies might intersect in undertaking an analysis of letters written between same-sex couples in the late 1800s.
Inventory your research interests and assess whether they nest neatly inside one discipline or are interdisciplinary in nature.
What theme?
Think about your specific themes, which will set the scope of your essay or project. For example...
- For the fields of History, Government and Politics, you could look at a theme such as U.S. foreign policy.
- For the field of Biomedical Engineering, you could look at the theme of smart prosthetics.
- For the field of Marketing, you could look at the theme of multi-channel retailing.
What context?
The themes above are too wide to tackle in a single piece of research. For example, 'U.S. foreign policy' could cover a ~250-year period that spans American relationships with nearly 200 different countries: that's too much! Therefore, the next step is to pick a context for your theme. For example...
- U.S. foreign policy as related to Iran in the twenty-first century.
- Smart prosthetics used by individuals with acquired lower-limb shortening.
- Multi-channel retailing among organic food brands in the UK.
As you can see, this context step continues to narrow down the focus of the initial subject and theme.
Top tip: Try playing with a few different options at this stage. The more choices you develop, the better the odds that you will formulate a hypothesis/question that you are excited to pursue.
What specific angle?
Here, you will carefully consider the theme and its context, and ask yourself, 'What, specifically, is relevant to find out about this theme?' Or, put another way, what do you want to discover? The answers to questions like these will suggest a meaningful angle for your project. For example, continuing to build from our prior examples...
- Question: 'What role did the U.S. play in the 2009 Iranian elections?'
- Hypothesis: 'Lower-limb prosthetic sockets could be redesigned with innovative materials to improve shock absorption and, thus, user comfort.'
- Question: 'Which marketing channels are proving most effective for customer acquisition amongst organic food brands currently operating in the UK?'
Bear in mind that longer projects such as dissertations and theses often address a handful of related questions – so don't panic if you can't boil it down to just one question!
What method(ology)?
Finally, it's time for a reality check: your idea might be fantastic, but is there a realistic way to produce meaningful answers? For example, this is an intriguing question:
'Leading up to the 2016 Brexit vote, to what extent did the privately expressed opinions of top officials in the UK government align with, or contradict, their publicly made statements?'
However intriguing that question, it would be difficult or impossible to research: how would you gather evidence of 'privately expressed opinions' in an ethical, reliable way? (Hacking governmental memos or email accounts definitely runs afoul of academic responsibility and conduct!)
Therefore, you need to vet whether a sound method or methodology can underpin your choice of theme(s), context and angle(s). You don't need to define every detail of your method at this stage, but ask yourself questions like these:
- What types of sources will you need to answer your question: internal data sets, business reports, archived materials, journal articles, etc.?
- For example, is it possible to compare and contrast the official responses of the U.S. and Iranian governments by using public speeches? Is there any further evidence of American involvement in the election highlighted in press reports, or online sources such as YouTube and Twitter? Which sources can you use to confirm facts, and which to confirm public perceptions/opinions?
- Where/how will you access those sources: general databases, specialist databases, direct interviews, books, museum/library archives, etc.?
- For example, have any organic food brands published their data on customer acquisition strategies? If not, how could you measure this using publicly available information and/or direct correspondence with brands?
Top tip: The Engagement Librarian for your subject area can advise on access to materials. See your subject page for more information.
- What ethical considerations might you encounter, if any?
- Identifying an ethical consideration doesn't necessarily mean you need to abandon your idea, but you will need to review the University Ethics Policy, discuss your idea with your supervisor, and, if deemed necessary, apply for ethics approval before proceeding.
The benefits
If you write a well considered hypothesis or question you can:
- Narrow your research and focus more carefully;
- Make better choices for the selection of your reading;
- From your reading you can select information more carefully and get the right evidence to include in your essay/project;
- Structure your writing to address the question(s) more directly;
- Transform your original hypothesis into a final thesis statement that frames your writing: see our Crafting the Introduction guide for more on thesis statements.
