Thesis vs Hypothesis – What is the Difference?
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Thesis is typically a large document, based on a large body of work which sought to prove / disprove several hypothesis.
Hypothesis is a statement, based on an idea and existing literature, about how something will behave, which can through experiments be shown to be true or false.
My PhD thesis (draft) has several experimental chapters, each have an identified ‘knowledge gap’ in current science. A hypothesis, and research ‘objectives’ which fell out of that hypothesis.
Thesis = Well researched conclusion
Hypothesis = Hypothetical thesis, or a hunch based on either a gut feeling or some limited data
The prefix “hypo” means “below” (“hyper” means “above”).
A hypothesis is in so far “below” a thesis as it doesn’t have to be based on any scientific findings. A thesis is a hypothesis that has been tested and found to be consistent with the test results.
E.g.: When you discover that the street has become wet within the past 5 minutes, you can form any kind of hypothesis regarding the cause of that.
You could hypothesize that it just rained. If you then look up to the sky and see rain clouds and your phone’s weather app tells you that rain is to be expected in your location, you can go ahead and call your assumption a theory.
If you look up and there are no clouds to be seen and your weather app predicts no precipitation in your area, then you have tested your hypothesis and have determined it to be incorrect. You can then discard it and come up with another testable hypothesis.
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