Null Hypothesis

When social scientific communication researchers are seeking to test a theory or idea, they typically pose a hypothesis, collect data, and then analyze that data in order to make a judgment regarding the proposed hypothesis.[Page 1104] However, the hypothesis proposed in most research studies is actually the alternative hypothesis (also called the research hypothesis or the residual hypothesis). The alternative hypothesis, which typically proposes some level of correlation or correlations between variables or differences between groups or factors, is the alternative to the hypothesis that is actually being tested—the null hypothesis (H0). This entry introduces the null hypothesis, discusses why it is controversial, and considers its application in communication research.