Social Research Methods Activity 2

Activity 2: Posing Questions, Crafting Explanations, and Communicating Results

Doing Sociology 2.3 Creating a Hypothesis

Once we have posed a research question, we want to try to answer it. The process of crafting explanations starts by reviewing what other researchers have written on the topic. This is called a literature review. Sociologists read the existing research, articles, and books that address the issue they are studying. Through this process, they see which theoretical perspectives other researchers have used to understand the issue. They also develop a solid understanding of what is known about the issue and what remains to be learned.

The next step in the process of crafting explanations is to develop a research design. This is when sociologists articulate their hypotheses and identify their independent and dependent variables.

A hypothesis is an unverified but testable statement that a researcher believes represents a potential answer to their research question. In other words, it is an educated guess—and that guess is based, in part, on sociological theory and the previously completed literature review. 

For instance, imagine that a sociologist wants to understand why poverty rates in the United States are significantly higher than poverty rates in other wealthy Western nations. After reading the existing literature on poverty and considering both functionalism and conflict theory, they might offer the following two hypotheses as potential answers to the research question: 

1. Poverty rates are higher in the United States than in most other wealthy Western nations because a higher proportion of U.S. citizens choose not to pursue the education and training necessary to secure high-paying jobs. 
2. Poverty rates are higher in the United States than in most other wealthy Western nations because U.S. tax laws perpetuate income and wealth disparities. 

Notice the specificity of these hypotheses. Although they are both “educated guesses,” the guesses are informed by the existing research literature and theoretical perspectives in the field. 

In this exercise, you will formulate a sociological research question. 

1. Select something in the social world that intrigues you (e.g., social media, dating patterns, homelessness, economic inequality, day care for children, etc.), then list what you know about this issue. 
2. Why do you think your chosen issue is important in life? How do you think it might be related to other social issues like gender, age, race, religion, etc.? 
3. Write a research question based on your chosen social issue. 
4. Write at least one hypothesis for your research question. Be sure to be specific—your hypothesis should not be answerable by a simple yes or no.

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