1. Hypothesis: It is possible that the student is hungry and does not have enough energy to stay awake.
2. Test:
a. I would test this hypothesis by bringing a nutritious energy bar to class and offering it to the student before class begins. I am altering conditions by having the student eat before attending class.
b. If the student stayed awake, this would support my hypothesis.
c. If he fell asleep anyway, it would suggest my hypothesis is falsified.
3. An example of an untestable, unfalsifiable explanation would be that as a child the student was hypnotized by a stranger and instructed to fall asleep during this exact class.
The hypothesis is spot on and has a backbone to it. Very good example and no critiques necessary. Your example of an untestable hypothesis is humorous and reasonable as if that were the case, it would be untestable!
ReplyDeleteTestable Hypothesis (5/5) - Good.
ReplyDeleteTest (5/5) - Good test.
Support (5/5)
Falsify (5/5)
Untestable Hypothesis (5/10) - I agree that this would be very difficult to test, but you are still dealing with a real person, a real process (hyponosis) and a real person causing this (the person who hypnotized him. Anytime you are dealing with real causes, then it is testable, even if you aren't personally sure how to actually test it. To be untestable, the cause must be undetectable/unobservable in any way.