Talk:working hypothesis

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Latest comment: 1 year ago by 2A0A:A546:A8E:1:C27C:C014:A0D8:FCC3 in topic The definition makes no sense.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The definition makes no sense.[edit]

A hypothesis is already “unverified yet tentatively chosen as a best guess to build upon or put effort into its verification”. If that has been achieved, it has become a theory.
At best, a working hypothesis could be defined as a temporary hypothesis, that is assumed inside the context of a discussion or the like, but not outside of it. But I don’t know if that’s how people use it. In fact, this usage with the false assumption that hypothesis isn’t unverified, is the only way I’ve ever seen it used, and so it seems to be an invalid term by itself.
2A0A:A546:A8E:1:C27C:C014:A0D8:FCC3 17:44, 16 April 2023 (UTC)Reply

On further investigation, my assumption seems to be the correct one for German, as the Duden seems to support my view: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Arbeitshypothese
Arbeitshypothese links here. So either this must be the same for English, or that link is wrong and should be altered.
2A0A:A546:A8E:1:C27C:C014:A0D8:FCC3 17:46, 16 April 2023 (UTC)Reply