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A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon.
In early usage, a hypothesis was a clever idea or convenient mathematical approach that would simplify calculation but did not
necessarily have any reality at all. This is the sense in which Cardinal Bellarmine used the word when he warned Galileo away from treating the motion of the Earth as a
reality.
In common usage at present, a hypothesis is a provisional idea whose merit is to be evaluated. A hypothesis requires more work
by the researcher in order to either confirm or disprove it. In the hypothetico-deductive method, a hypothesis should be falsifiable, meaning that it is possible that it be shown to be false, usually by observation. Note that if confirmed, the hypothesis is not necessarily proven, but
remains provisional. See statistical
hypothesis testing. See also: learning.
As an example, a reader who comes upon a high-quality article in Wikipedia might form a hypothesis that Wikipedia articles can only be edited by highly
qualified professors with multiple Ph.Ds.
It can be considered a hypothesis, as it is falsifiable. It can be falsified by noticing that anyone can edit Wikipedia
articles, using the "
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