PROF. J. MUMBA, Ph.D. ESAMI

• A HYPOTHESIS IS A LOGICALLY CONJECTURED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO OR MORE VARIABLES EXPRESSED IN THE FORM OF A TESTABLE STATEMENT • RELATIONSHIPS ARE CONJECTURED ON THE BASIS OF THE NETWORK OF ASSOCIATION ESTABLISHED IN THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FORMULATED FOR THE RESEARCH STUDY

• BY TESTING THE HYPOTHESES AND CONFIRMING THE CONJECTURED RELATIONSHIPS, IT IS EXPECTED THAT SOLUTIONS CAN BE FOUND TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED

• HYPOTHESIS: • IF THERE IS WORKFORCE DIVERSITY IN AN ORGANISATION, ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS IS ENHANCED

• THIS IS A TESTABLE STATEMENT • BY MEASURING LEVELS OF WORKFORCE DIVERSITY IN ORGANISATIONS AND THE ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, YOU CAN STATISTICALLY EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO VARIABLES, SAY USING CORRELATION STUDIES

• IF YOU FIND A POSITIVE CORRELATION, THEN THE HYPOTHESIS IS SUBSTANTIATED • TO CALL A RELATIONSHIP STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT, IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO FIND THE OBSERVED RELATIONSHIP BY CHANCE ONLY 5 TIMES OUT OF 100 • THAT IS, WE SHOULD BE CONFIDENT THAT 95 TIMES OUT OF 100, THE OBSERVED RELATIONSHIP WILL HOLD TRUE

1. IF-THEN STATEMENTS: E.G. IF EMPLOYEES ARE MORE HEALTHY, THEN THEY WILL TAKE SICK LEAVE LESS FREQUENTLY

2. DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESES: USES PHRASES SUCH AS “POSITIVE”, “NEGATIVE”, “MORE THAN”, “LESS THAN” E.G. THE GREATER THE STRESS EXPERIENCED IN A JOB, THE LOWER THE JOB SATISFACTION OF THE EMPLOYEES WOMEN ARE MORE MOTIVATED THAN MEN

3. NON-DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESES: E.G. THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE AND JOB SATISFACTION THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WORK ETHIC VALUES OF AMERICAN AND AFRICAN EMPLOYEES

4. NULL AND ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESES: •

THE NULL HYPOTHESIS IS A PROPOSITION THAT STATES A DEFINITE EXACT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO VARIABLES, I.E. IT STATES THAT THE POPULATION CORRELATION BETWEEN TWO VARIABLES IS EQUAL TO ZERO, OR THAT THE DIFFERENCE IN THE MEANS OF TWO GROUPS IN THE POPULATION IS EQUAL TO ZERO (OR SOME DEFINITE NUMBER)

• THE ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE NULL, IS A STATEMENT EXPRESSING A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO VARIABLES OR INDICATING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS • SEE EARLIER EXAMPLES