A Hypothetico-Deductive Model for Teaching the Research Paper

This article offers a pedagogical sequence for teaching the development of a thesis for the research report. The unit presented introduces students to a heuristic of research and shows students how to apply research techniques. The sequence elucidates the steps and loops through which a researcher passes in moving from initial topic to completed thesis. The article argues that neither research nor written report can work without a (hypo)thesis. Arguing against the currently taught inductionist models of research, it adopts Karl Popper's model of research by conjecture and refutation. The process of conjecture and refutation is just as valid for library-based research as it is for original scientific research. The pedagogical sequence, then, shows students how to develop conjectures and how to use literature to refute or modify them in the development of a final thesis for the research report.