Hypothesis

Definition

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess. If a hypothesis is repeatedly independently demonstrated by experiment to be true, it becomes a scientific theory. In colloquial usage, the words hypothesis and theory are often used interchangeably, but this is incorrect in the context of science.

Related concepts

A Greek–English Lexicon Alternative hypothesis Ancient Greek Andreas Cellarius Antarctica Antecedent (logic)Authentication Axiom Bold hypothesis Brainstorming Calculation Carl Gustav Hempel Case study Century Dictionary Concept Conceptual framework Confirmation holism Conjecture Consequent Conservation of energy Constant of motion Correlation Counterfactual conditional Crucial experiment Deductive-nomological model Deductive reasoning Educated guess Emmy Noether Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition Ernest Nagel Etymonline Existential quantification Experience Experiment Explanandum and explanans Explanation Exploratory research Falsifiability Formal logic Galileo Galilei Gideon J. Mellenbergh Gregory Vlastos H.J. Adèr Hans Christian Ørsted Henry Liddell Hugh Chisholm Hypothesis (disambiguation)Hypothesis (drama)Hypothesis theory Hypothetical (disambiguation)Hypothetical question Imre Lakatos James Prescott Joule Karl Popper Laboratory Logical positivism Mathematical model Meno Morris Raphael Cohen Mount Hypothesis Nature Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot Null hypothesis Observations Occam's razor Operationalization Orbit Patricia M. Shields Paul Feyerabend Perseus Project Phenomenon Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica Plato Plot (narrative)Prediction Proposition Public domain Reality Reasoning Reductionism Reproducible Research Research design Research ethics Richard Feynman Robert Bellarmine Robert Scott (philologist)Sample size Scientific method Scientific theory Sociology of scientific knowledge Socrates Statistical hypothesis testing Statistical test Testability Testable The Century Company The Character of Physical Law The Logic of Scientific Discovery Theatre of ancient Greece Theodore Schick Theorem Thesis statement Thought experiment Universal quantification Verificationism Virtue Wikisource Wilbur Knorr Working hypothesis

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