What is a hypothesis? Its types

In all spheres of life - from the scientific to the everyday - we move from ignorance to knowledge, comprehending various phenomena and connecting them with each other. In the course of this process, we make assumptions, construct hypotheses. They may prove to be false, and they can be justified by going to the truth and raising the level of our knowledge. So what is a hypothesis?

As the textbooks explain, the hypothesis is the assumption, most often in the scientific branch, which is in a somewhat suspended state. That is, while it can neither be denied nor confirmed. Hypotheses can contain the causes, effects, connections between any natural phenomena, can relate to mental activity or the life of society.

Speaking of what a hypothesis is, it is worthwhile to dwell on the degree of its generality. According to this factor, all assumptions can be delineated into general and particular ones. In short, the purpose of stating a general hypothesis is to provide a scientific justification for the causes and laws of any phenomena, not single, but a whole class. An example of such an assumption can be that all substances are composed of atoms, or a theory about the appearance of celestial objects. Such important hypotheses, provided that they are evidence, are scientific theories, besides, they play a key role in the development of the whole world science.

Private hypotheses consider objects and phenomena distinguished from the general series. Many such assumptions are made in social studies or archeology, during excavations. There are also individual hypotheses that substantiate the essence of the origin and causes of concrete facts and certain events. A striking example of this can be the doctor's work: during the treatment of one particular patient, he puts forth individual hypotheses, appointing and correcting the treatment regimen.

In litigation, the scientific hypothesis is often not one. To approach to an explanation of the separate facts, cases, set of the occurred circumstances it is possible from several parties. Various hypotheses at the root are called versions. They too are common and private.

Proving the hypothesis, it is not so important, single or general, people make a number of assumptions at each stage of their research. These assumptions are conditional, help group and systematize the data for more convenient consideration. They are called workers. Apparently, the working hypothesis does not at all seek to elucidate the real causes and patterns of the phenomenon under investigation, but is considered merely an auxiliary element.

In what is a hypothesis, figured out, and now let's talk about its confirmation or denial. To confirm any assumption, there are two ways: direct and indirect. In the first, an enormous role is played by all sorts of experiments that deduce the consequences from the hypothesis and verify them. The whole success of the proof of the hypothesis depends on the correct setting of the goal and the competent planning of the experimental process. Indirect way is the refutation of all false hypotheses, as a result of which there is only one - the only true one.

As for the refutation of the hypotheses, everything is simple: we must refute their consequences, prove that they do not have a place in reality. The final success can be achieved if one discovers facts, causes or consequences that are fundamentally contrary to the consequences arising from the hypothesis.

That's all. Now you know what a hypothesis is, how it is built, is confirmed and refuted. Let you be accompanied by logic!