LINKS TO TABLE OF
HYPOTHESIZING
EXERCISES
Only three miles from prestigious Olympus Academy stands T.M. Penury High School. The teachers at Penury tend to fall into two groups: "traditionalists", who accept no excuses from students for deviation from a strict academic code; and, "humanists", who feel their primary goal is to make their students comfortable with school. The teachers at Olympus tend to fall into neither type, but are somewhere in the middle, expecting neither academic brilliance, nor tolerating even unmannerly behavior on the part of the students.
| Student Directions
|
| A. Devise several competing hypotheses that account for the differences in teacher-type between Olympus and Penury. |
| B. Can you combine two or more hypotheses within a more powerful hypothesis? |
| C. For each hypothesis determine what information you would need to disconfirm its competitors. |
| D. You will be given additional information. Use it to rule out some of the hypothetical alternatives. |
Additional Information
(to be supplied by Instructor)
A. Average yearly family income for Olympus students is $150,000.
B. Average yearly family income for Penury students is $10,000.
C. Percentage of single parent families at Olympus is 50%.
D. Percentage of single parent families at Penury is 50%.
E. 10% of Penury students take the SAT's, averaging 1250.
F. 100% of Olympus students take the SAT's averaging 1250.
Additional Student Questions (to be answered after all information is in.)
| 1. How can an equal measurement in two separate cases signify something different? Consider C and D, or E and F. |
| 2. What kinds of criticism would a "traditionalist" teacher from Penury likely receive, were he or she to transfer to Olympus Academy? |
| 3. Suppose a student received a complete scholarship from Olympus for his or her high grades at Penury. What difficulties might he or she encounter at the new school? |
| 4. Which school likely has more students? |
| 5.For top scorers on the SAT's, speculate about the relative motivation between the two schools. |