4.6 Formulation of Hypothesis

The hypothesis = the tentative answer to the research question — a testable proposition (the empirical design's engine; the doctrinal design may run on questions alone). The formulation's tests: the testability (evidence can confirm or falsify — the falsifiability's discipline), the relational form (the variables' statement: "the delay correlates with the distance from the court"; "the guarantee's autonomy holds regardless of the underlying dispute"), the clarity and the range (the concepts defined, the scope bounded), and the theoretical grounding (the proposition's link to a body of thought — the schools of Unit 2's world). The types: the null-and-alternative pair (the statistical discipline's H0/H1); the descriptive vs relational vs causal ladder (the causal's higher bar — correlation's caveats). The exam's warning: a hypothesis smuggled as a conclusion ("the courts are corrupt because...") is research's failure at the gate.