Hypothesis
A proposed explanation requiring testable and reproducible prediction.
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. In science, a hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, beginning with an educated guess. If repeatedly independently demonstrated by experiment to be true, it becomes a scientific theory. In colloquial usage, the words hypothesis and theory are often used interchangeably, but this is incorrect in the context of science.
- Etymology
- From ancient Greek ὑπόθεσις (hypothesis), meaning 'putting or placing under'
- Field
- Science, logic, philosophy, entrepreneurship
- Key characteristic
- Must be testable and falsifiable
- Related concept
- Working hypothesis
- Contrasted with
- Scientific theory
Lore & Background
In its ancient usage, hypothesis referred to a summary of the plot of a classical drama. The English word comes from the ancient Greek word ὑπόθεσις (hypothesis), whose literal sense is 'putting or placing under'. In Plato's Meno, Socrates dissects virtue using a method he says is used by mathematicians, that of 'investigating from a hypothesis', where hypothesis refers to a clever idea or short cut. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine gave a famous example of this usage in the warning issued to Galileo in the early 17th century: that he must not treat the motion of the Earth as a reality, but merely as a hypothesis.
Reader's Guide
A hypothesis is central to the scientific method, serving as a provisional idea whose merit requires evaluation. For proper evaluation, the framer must define specifics in operational terms. A confirmed hypothesis may become part of a theory or occasionally grow to become a theory itself. Normally, scientific hypotheses have the form of a mathematical model. Karl Popper argued that a hypothesis must be falsifiable, and that one cannot regard a proposition or theory as scientific if it does not admit the possibility of being shown false. Other philosophers have rejected or supplemented falsifiability with criteria such as verifiability or coherence. In entrepreneurial settings, hypotheses are used to formulate provisional ideas about products or business models, evaluated through verifiability- or falsifiability-oriented experiments. The working hypothesis is provisionally accepted for further research, often used as a conceptual framework in qualitative research. Philosophers such as Imre Lakatos and Paul Feyerabend have attempted to integrate various approaches to evaluating hypotheses into a more complete system.
Did You Know?
- A working hypothesis is often proposed with knowledge that it is incomplete and thus false, to move research in the right direction.
- In formal logic, a hypothesis is the antecedent in a proposition, such as 'P' in 'If P, then Q'.
- The adjective 'hypothetical' can refer to any of the meanings of the term 'hypothesis'.
- In its ancient usage, hypothesis referred to a summary of the plot of a classical drama.
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