1. Different disciplines have their respective definitions of hypothesis. In science, hypothesis is defined as the initial building block in the scientific method based on recurring knowledge, theories and observations with no pre-determined outcome (Zimmerman, 2012). Hypothesis is a form of a statement made in the manner of an educated guess that can be used as a basis for consequent scientific methods. The formulated hypothesis may or may not be accepted as a theory after an experiment.
It is not very difficult to formulate a hypothesis in general, as long as the dependent and independent variables have been mapped properly. Furthermore, doing qualitative and quantitative methods of research would benefit the whole experiment. A formulated hypothesis may be accepted or rejected, supported or refuted. Formulating a hypothesis only becomes difficult if (1) there are major problems encountered in the scientific experiment process, which may prevent formulation of results and conclusions, (2) if situations occur that may make the hypothesis formulated unfeasible, and (3) the hypothesis would end up being vague.
Formulating a good and strong hypothesis is very challenging because people may simply dispute it as an unjust claim. Therefore, scientists and researchers formulate a hypothesis based on a set of review of related literature/s as the basis of collated information. Bias could play a role in the formulation of the hypothesis because it is part of human reasoning after all. Klayman and Ha (1987) based their study from research findings of Wason on hypothesis testing, and they have coined the term positive test strategy. They went on to conclude that this positive test strategy encourages interest among researchers to perform correlated studies while realizing the goal of determining the truth and falsity of the hypothesis formulated.
2. Global warming is an international issue that continues to raise political concerns over the world. Different groups and political parties across the world have conducted their research studies aimed towards their vision and purpose. However, the issue of global warming seems to cause some political turmoil in American soil.
There are many research topics surrounding the radical changes of Mother Nature and the involvement of American politics. However, let us delve further on the issue of global warming through examining how rhetorical expressions and connotations come into play. Enten (2014) posted figures on the term usage of global warming and climate change in framing the issue during Congress sessions. Based from the statistics, Republicans have mainly used the term global warming and Democrats widely used the term climate change.
Two research methodologies used in the study and collating information together. The column writer performed a descriptive research through inclusion of quantitative data because he presented statistical tabulations of the terminology usage in graphical form. He also included qualitative data by using his analysis, while referring to existing research material and news on politics addressing the issue of global warming. After checking on the references used by the column writer, I believe that the research method and data utilized are valid enough for readers and analysts to use Enten’s piece to gather further information.
To support the validity of his article, Enten went on to acknowledge the Yale Project’s study earlier on his opinion piece as his basis throughout the article. Both Yale Project’s research and Enten’s claims that global warming and climate change as two different terms clearly suggest that the latter proposes that such terms must be used with proper reference.
References
Enten, H. (2014, June 4). The Political Rhetoric Around Climate Change Er, Global Warming. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-political-rhetoric- around-climate-change-er-global-warming/
Klayman, J., & Ha, Y. (1987). Confirmation, disconfirmation, and information in hypothesis testing. Psychological Review, 94(2), 211-228.
Zimmerman, K. (2012, July 10). What is a Scientific Hypothesis? | Definition of Hypothesis. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from http://www.livescience.com/21490-what-is-a-scientific- hypothesis-definition-of-hypothesis.html
Leiserowitz, PhD, A., Feinberg, G., Rosenthal, PhD, S., Smith, PhD, N., Anderson, PhD, A., & Roser-Renouf, PhD, C. (2014). What's in a Name? Global Warming vs Climate Change.
