As we have seen, the development of hypotheses is often influenced by the prevailing theoretical framework. Starting with the observation that athletes often have enlarged hearts, let's consider how scientists with different theoretical frameworks might proceed.

• Imagine that a scientist believes athletics are detrimental to overall health. What sorts of hypotheses might this scientist generate to explain the enlarged heart of athletes?
• Now imagine that another scientist believes that athletics are beneficial to overall health. What sorts of hypotheses might this scientist generate to explain the enlarged heart of athletes?
• How do you think that the theoretical framework of these scientists will influence the kind of studies that they perform?

Now let's look at a specific example of how theory, research question, and hypothesis are described in the introduction of a scientific paper. Click here to continue.