Read at least two of the excerpts below. Each of these discusses what a
hypothesis is (and how it is different from a research question) in a different way. I am asking you to read multiple
explanations because I think the best way to understand a concept is not to just seek one "right" definition, but to
learn about it from multiple perspectives and see what different perspectives have in common and what makes them
different. This will give you a fuller understanding of the topic, as things in the world rarely have a single fixed
"correct" definition.
You do not need to read every word of these. Your goal in reading these is to understand the difference
between a hypothesis and a research question; you can read just enough to find that information (from at least two
different readings). If there are some parts that you notice are not directly relevant to that goal, you can skip or
skim them. (In particular, for this assignment, you can ignore anything about "null hypotheses" in the readings; null
hypotheses are a particular statistical concept and are not relevant for this module, although you will learn more
about them in the "Introduction to inferential statistics" module.) Reading should always be active (thinking about
what you are trying to get from the reading, and constantly thinking about what you have read and how it relates to
your goal), not just passively looking at every word of the text.
After you have read at least two texts, continue to the reflection questions below. As before, your
answers to these are not graded; this is just an activity to get you thinking about what you've read.
This Facebook discussion (make
sure to click to see the comments below the post). It's on a public page, so you do not need a Facebook account
to see it.
Brown, J. (2008). Chapter 9: Statistical logic (pp. 108-111). Understanding Research in Second Language
Learning. Cambridge University Press.
Rasinger, S. (2014). Section 2.9 Hypotheses, laws and theories (pp. 30-33). Quantitative Research in Linguistics: An
Introduction. Bloomsbury.
Salkind, N. (2009). Hypotheses (pp. 25-30). Exploring Research. Pearson.
Describe, in your own words (no copying or paraphrasing from the readings), what you think
is the difference between a research topic, a research question, and a hypothesis.
Describe, in your own words, the characteristics of a good hypothesis. What makes a research hypothesis good? What's
the difference between a good and a bad hypothesis?
Below I have written several passages. Each passage describes a research topic, research question, hypothesis,
and the link between them. Figure out which passages have a good, well-stated research questions and hypotheses
with good links between the research questions and hypotheses. (Below I sometimes use vague terms like "Theory
A" or "Condition Y", but that's just because these examples are completely made-up. Don't base your judgment
on how clear the names of the theories/conditions are; you can try to imagine whether a given passage
would have a clear link between the research questions and hypotheses if I had given more descriptive
names to things.) My answers are at the bottom of the page.
The role of feedback in language learning is an important topic in pedagogy. There are different kinds
of feedback, and some may be more useful than others. This study compares two kinds of feedback (Feedback
A and Feedback B) to see which has a more positive impact on learning outcomes. According to Theory X,
Feedback A should be more effective for language learning. We designed an experiment in which different
groups of students got different types of feedback. We predict that students who get Feedback A will show
greater improvement in test scores, compared to students who get Feedback A, over the course of the
semester.
The aim of this study is to better understand the neural mechanisms supporting language processing. We use
EEG to record Chinese speakers' brain activity while they read different kinds of sentences, including SOV
sentences with BA structure (把字句) and canonical SVO sentences. We compare the brain
responses in these different types of sentence to determine what are the brain correlates of understanding
different sentence structures.
Understanding the extent and role of language transfer in language learners is crucial to understanding the
language acquisition process. Language acquisition theory distinguishes between forward transfer (e.g., when
a person's first language influences their second language) and backward transfer (e.g., when a person's
second language influences their first language). However, different aspects of language may be affected,
or not affected, by language transfer in different ways—for example, a language learner may experience
forward transfer in terms of their production of syntax, but backward transfer in terms of their pronunciation.
These patterns may also differ between individual learners. The present study will evaluate both production
and comprehension of syntax, semantics, and phonetics, in a group of L1 Mandarin - L2 Korean learners, to
determine what aspects of language show transfer. Individual differences between learners will also be
investigated.
One of the fundamental questions of linguistics is how language is represented in the mind. This issue is
especially complicated for elements of language which undergo change. For example, some Mandarin syllables
change their tone as a function of the context in which they are spoken: e.g., 水 (shui3,
"water") is pronounced with a low tone when it is produced alone, but pronounced with a rising tone when it
is produced in a compound word like 水果 (shui2guo3,
"fruit"). In the mental lexicon of a Mandarin speaker, is the 水 in a word like 水果
represented as having a low tone (its true underlying form), or a rising tone (the form with which it is
pronounced)? We test this question using an auditory priming experiment. Previous research has shown that
listeners can respond to a word faster when they have previously been "primed" by a word with the same tone.
In the present experiment, listeners respond to words like 水果 after being primed either by a
low-tone syllable, or a rising-tone syllable. If these words are represented with the underlying (low) tone
in the mind, participants should respond faster when primed by a low tone than when primed by a rising tone.
On the other hand, if these words are represented with the surface (rising) tone in the mind, participants
should respond faster when primed by a rising tone.
Answers for the last activity:
A is good; it describes a big-picture question, mentions a theory that provides a link from the big-picture question to specific experiment results, and explains what is expected to happen in the experiment under a given big-picture theory.
B is not good; there are no specific hypotheses or predictions, no detail about what aspect of brain activity will be "compared".
C is not good; it just says that a lot of things will be looked at, but offers no specific hypotheses or predictions.
D is good; a big-picture question is raised and linked to specific predictions about what will occur in the experiment (and why) under different theories; in fact this is the design of a real study.