Null Hypothesis - GCSE Psychology Definition

The null hypothesis is a concept in psychology research used to test ideas or predictions. It is the assumption that there is no effect or no difference in a study or experiment, meaning any observed changes or relationships are due to chance.

For example, if you are testing whether a new teaching method improves test scores, the null hypothesis would suggest that the teaching method does not make any difference to the scores. Researchers then collect data to see if they can prove this assumption wrong, which means they are looking for evidence that shows the new method does have an impact. If they find strong evidence against the null hypothesis, they may consider it rejected, supporting the idea that their new method works.