CBSE Book Class 11 Philosophy Science and Hypothesis

Science and Hypothesis

Why Hypothesis?

All men, unlike animals, are born with a capacity "to reflect". This intellectual curiosity amongst others, takes a standard form such as "Why so-and-so is such-and-such?". While answering such queries men proceed from ignorance to the path of knowledge, from incomplete to complete knowledge. In the course of this journey 'to know', various hypotheses are formulated or rejected depending upon the accompanying circumstances. A hypothesis is a form of development of knowledge. Hypotheses are advanced to substantiate various assumptions to explain some phenomenon and its connection with other phenomena. Their importance in the growth and development of natural sciences can by no means be underestimated. Nature is a big mystery governed by its own rules but it is man who discovers these rules and formulates laws and theories. Apple always falls on the ground but it was Newton who found the rationale in the form of Gravitational power of earth.

What is a Hypothesis?

A hypothesis is a tentative statement that proposes a possible explanation for some phenomenon or event. Hypothesis is an educated guess. The term educated is highlighted because no good hypothesis can be developed without research into the problem. The need for a hypothesis arises when some novelty or abnormality is observed in some phenomenon which can neither be understood nor explained through prior established laws. To understand such inconsistencies, some tentative statements are formed on the basis of observation and put to exhaustive scientific investigations. These investigations are necessary in order to assess the testability and accuracy of hypothesis. Since a hypothesis is a possible solution, initially its truth is as questionable as its falsity. It may turn out to be true or it may turn out to be false. For example, when I reach home, see the main door opened ajar and the door lock broken, all household things scattered all over the place, seeing this and other accompanying circumstances, I start making conjectures leading to the conclusion that a burglary is the most possible happening. These conjectures are called hypotheses, and the reasoning used to produce them is called hypothetical reasoning. The hypotheses make up for the lack of direct observation in producing the needed explanation. A useful hypothesis is a testable statement which may include a prediction. A hypothesis is not identical with a theory. A theory is a general explanation based on a large amount of data and underlying assumptions. In contrast, a hypothesis is more specific than a theory.

Types of Hypotheses

Depending upon the level of generality, scientific hypotheses may be divided into general, particular and individual.

A general hypothesis is a scientifically substantiated assumption about the causes, laws and rules governing natural phenomena. For example, there is 'Democritus hypothesis' about the atomic structure of substance which subsequently became a scientific theory.

A particular hypothesis is a scientifically substantiated assumption about the causes, origin, regularities and irregularities of a part of objects singled out from a class of objects belonging to Nature. In other words, they are devised to reveal the reasons for the emergence of irregularities in a subset of the given set. For example, while trying to find some remedy for cancer, several particular hypotheses are advanced about the causes of viruses of malignant tumours.

An individual hypothesis is a scientifically substantiated assumption about the causes, origins, regularities and irregularities of individual facts, concrete events or phenomena. For example, a doctor while diagnosing constructs individual hypotheses in the course of treating an individual patient. After detecting the ailment, he not only selects drugs but also their dosage individually.

Stages of constructing a Hypothesis

S1. Identification of some unexpected novel happening in a group of facts which is not covered by prior established laws, and thus is required to be explained by observation, collection, and relevant classification of empirical data by forming a new hypothesis.

S2. Formation of the hypothesis (or hypotheses), i.e., assumptions which would explain the regularities or irregularities in question.

S3. Derivations of all relevant consequences from the hypothesis in question which will further qualify it for verification.

S4. Comparison of all the logical consequences drawn from the hypothesis with the existing observations and established laws of science is a step ahead in its acceptance.

S5. Transformation of the hypothesis as a part of scientific theory if all consequences of the hypothesis are corroborated without any inconsistency.

Conditions of a Good Hypothesis

Every hypothesis is either good or a false one. A hypothesis is good if it finds a secure place in science. In order to be a good or sound hypothesis it must satisfy the following five conditions. These five conditions commonly set the criterion for judging the worth or acceptability of any hypothesis.

Please refer to the link below - CBSE Class 11 Philosophy Science and Hypothesis