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Definition of Scientific Hypothesis: A Generalization or a Causal Explanation?  

Jeong, Jin-Su (Department of Science Education, Korea National University of Education)
Kwon, Yong-Ju (Department of Science Education, Korea National University of Education)
Publication Information
Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education / v.26, no.5, 2006 , pp. 637-645 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study reviewed and discussed the nature of scientific hypothesis described in philosophy, the philosophy of science, science, and science education. In these descriptions, a hypothesis was defined as one of five types: hypothesis as an assumption, hypothesis as a prediction, hypothesis as a tentative explanation, hypothesis as a tentative law, and hypothesis as a tentative causal explanation. Most scholars agreed that a hypothesis is a proposition or a set of propositions proposed as an explanation for an observed situation. In this view, a hypothesis is a possible answer to or an explanation of a question that accounts for all the observed facts. Also, it is a statement that explains why things happen in nature or an explanation for an observation that can be tested. In the five types of hypothesis meanings, a tentative explanation includes a tentative law and a tentative causal explanation. However, tentative laws are not explanation but description which are general statements drawn from specific experiences by way of a process known as induction. A number of studies also have distinguished hypothesis from assumption, tentative explanation, tentative law, and prediction. Therefore, a hypothesis is concluded to be a proposition or a set of propositions proposed as a tentative causal explanation for an observed situation.
Keywords
hypothesis; assumption; tentative explanation; tentative law; causal explanation; prediction;
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