RA: Annotated Bibliography

Research Question and Hypothesis

According to Kumar (2016), a research question is the central core of a research project, study, or review of the literature. The research question is primarily focused on the research, which determines the methodology and guides all phases of the investigation, analysis, and reporting. The research question developed in forensic psychology focused on how integrity contributes to the competence of the forensic psychology? This research question shows that honesty is essential in every public field because it promotes competence (Otto et al., 2017). Since the forensic psychologist often acts as a skilled witness, he must set for himself the uppermost potential ethical values. "A fundamental responsibility of forensic psychologists is to provide treatment, assessment, research, and training ethically." The relationship between a research question and hypothesis is that the research question can be an inquiry, however, the theory needs to adhere to a stricter format, ideally including both an H0 = the primary hypothesis (reflecting no impact/no change) and an H1 = the alternative hypothesis (indicating some effects, some variation). To ensure that a forensic psychologist adheres to the highest standards of ethical practice, he or she must interpret the following hypothesis.

Null hypothesis: forensic psychologist working in the correctional situations creates productive relationships, and thus they do not face any difficulties when working in this situation.

Alternative hypothesis: forensic psychologists face several blockages when it comes to attaining a possible therapeutic association in a correctional background which brings about the problems that they face.

Role of the null hypothesis in research and how it is used when concluding the collected data

The null hypothesis is included in every analysis as they help the researchers to identify different variations that exist in between the measured variables of the study. It means that a null hypothesis is applied in measuring statistical implication (Goodwin and Goodwin, 2016). Also, the null hypothesis is used to draw an inference from the collected data and make a conclusion from it built on a non-organized sample that has been taken from the populace. In an experiment, the researchers hope to attain a small enough p-value that is lower than our level of implication alpha, and we are justified in rejecting the null hypothesis. In instances where the p-value is more significant than alpha, then the findings of the research do not deny the null hypothesis. The hypothesis is associated with the researched problem in that from the hypothesis we can comprehend the foundation of the issue under exploration.

The relationship of my hypothesis to the identified problem

There exist a positive correlation between difficulties experienced by a forensic psychologist in the correctional background and the challenges they encounter when it comes to working in this background and thus their incapability to attain functional association. The whole point of forensic psychology is to know the why behind something. If someone commits a domestic violence crime and has to attend classes or therapy, or what not, it is essential to understand the background of the person, and if there is any learned before for why they commit the crime.

Feasibility of my hypothesis

This hypothesis is feasible since it can be tested merely with information that has been gathered from the ground and its usefulness analyzed. This means that the proposed hypothesis can be tested with the reproducible results. If forensic psychologists experience challenges due to working condition, this cannot be proved theoretically not unless the variables of the working settings are changed to collect enough data that is supposed to reproduce results and draw conclusions.

How my hypothesis is measurable and testable

This hypothesis is measurable and testable from the data collected and efficiently conducting statistical testing to measure its validity. For a hypothesis to be measured and tested, both independent and independent variables must be identified. The independent variable, in this case, is the environment within which the forensic psychologists are working under. It is an independent variable because the researcher can control or alter the working background to minimize the challenges experience. Forensic psychologists are dependent variables in this case.

References

Goodwin, C. J., & Goodwin, K. A. (2016). Research in psychology methods and design. John Wiley & Sons.

Kumar, R. (2016). Chapter-02 Research Problem, Research questions and Hypothesis. Nursing Research and Statistics, 27-44.

Otto, R. K., Goldstein, A. M., & Heilbrun, K. (2017). Ethics in forensic psychology practice. John Wiley & Sons.