A hypothesis will give a plausible explanation that will be tested. It can also explain future phenomenon that will need to be tested. Once a hypothesis has been widely accepted, it is called a law. This means that it is assumed to be true and will predict the outcome of certain conditions or experiments. Some laws cannot yet be proven because technology to test them has not been invented.
A scientific theory is broader in scope and explains more events that a law. After hypotheses and laws have been tested many times, with accurate results, they become theories.
Hypothesis is a prediction about the outcome of a study that will hold-up or be true for the population at large. We should not confuse a hypothesis for a theory which is explanations base on a large amount of date.
The key word is testable. That is, you will perform a test of how two variables might be related. This is when you are doing a real experiment. You are testing variables. Usually, a hypothesis is based on some previous observation such as noticing that in November many trees undergo color changes in their leaves and the average daily temperatures are dropping. Are these two events connected? How?
Any laboratory procedure you follow without a hypothesis is really not an experiment. It is just an exercise or demonstration of what is already known. Format of hypothesis written is deemed necessary fro identification. 1. Chocolate may cause pimples. 2. Salt in soil may affect plant growth. 3. Plant growth may be affected by the color of the light. 4. Bacterial growth may be affected by temperature.
References: Example of Hypothesis retrieved from: http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples/examples-of-hypothesis.html Hypotheses retrieve from: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/hypothes.php Sample MGT 249 handouts. Statistical Inference: Hypothesis Testing. Retrieved from http://home,business.utah.edu/mgtdbw/teaching/notes.html Annie