ABSTRACT
A hypothesis is an idea or hunch about the world. It might concern a claim about an individual variable, such as the degree of pollution in the River Trent, or it might be concerned with the relationship between two or more variables. Examples of the latter include the claim that the incidence of childhood leukaemia is related to the proximity of nuclear installations; that the level of crime is related to the level of unemployment; and that the incidence of child mortality in Victorian Britain was related to the level of spending on sewer construction.
