Sociological Research (Scientific Methods-14)

Of course, this hypothesis can also work the other way around. Perhaps a sociologist believes that increasing a child’s sense of self-esteem (the independent variable) will automatically increase or improve habits of hygiene (now the dependent variable). Identifying the independent and dependent variables is very important. As the hygiene example
shows, simply identifying two topics, or variables, is not enough; their prospective relationship must be part of the hypothesis.