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). Theformulation'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 theoreticalgrounding (the proposition's link to a body of thought — the schools of Unit 2's world). Thetypes: 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.