This is an outdated version published on 2022-05-28. Read the most recent version.

To pose or not to pose hypotheses? Suggestions for students, editors and reviewers

Authors

  • Alejandro Farji-Brener Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Hormigas (LIHO), INIBIOMA-CONICET y Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Bariloche, Argentina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.22.32.2.0.1914

Keywords:

descriptive and inductive studies, research, hypothetic-deductive method, Hypotheses

Abstract

A key goal of ecology as a science is to determine patterns in nature and infer their possible causes. Despite the importance and complementarity of descriptive and deductive approaches, it is common for directors, reviewers and funding agencies to compulsorily require the formulation of hypotheses in research projects. Given that advances in ecology are largely due to the iterative process of description (which does not require the formulation of hypotheses) and deduction, it is necessary to defend the diversity of approaches in order to simplify the elaboration and revision processes of projects, and to discover, understand and better manage natural systems. In this essay, arguments are developed both supporting the non-inclusion of hypotheses in descriptive or pure applied studies when they are not adequately justified, as well as in favor of transforming descriptive studies into deductive ones when the inclusion of hypotheses is feasible, does not obscure the original objective of the project and provides originality, objectivity and generality. Finally, suggestions are provided for authors, directors and reviewers to adequately justify their opinions, avoid prejudgments in the case of good descriptive projects, and make constructive and justified suggestions when the inclusion of hypotheses does not mislead the original objective of the work. are feasible to test, and their inclusion provides added value.

References

Armbrecht, I., I. Perfecto, and J. Vandermeer. 2004. Enigmatic biodiversity correlations: ant diversity responds to diverse resources. Science 304(5668):284-286. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094981.

Algar, A. C., J. Kerr, and D. J. Currie. 2007. A test of metabolic theory as the mechanism underlying broad‐scale species‐richness gradients. Global Ecology and Biogeography 16(2):170-178. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2006.00275.x.

Anderson, S. C., P. R Elsen, B. B Hughes, R. K Tonietto, M. C Bletz, D. A Gill, M. A. Holgerson, S. E. Kuebbing, C. McDonough MacKenzie, M. H. Meek, and D. Veríssimo. 2021. Trends in ecology and conservation over eight decades. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 19(5):274-282. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2320.

Baker, M. 2016. 1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility. Nature 533:452-454. https://doi.org/10.1038/533452a.

Betts, M. G., A. S. Hadley, D. W Frey, S. J Frey, D. Gannon, S. H. Harris, H. Kim, U. G. Kormann, K. Leimberger, K. Moriarty, J. M. Northrup, B. Phalan, J. S. Rousseau, T. D. Stokely, J. J. Valente, C. Wolf, and D. Zárrate‐Charry. 2021. When are hypotheses useful in ecology and evolution? Ecology and Evolution 11:5762-5776. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7365.

Bryant, J. P., F. S. Chapin III, and D. R Klein. 1983. Carbon/nutrient balance of boreal plants in relation to vertebrate herbivory. Oikos 40:357-368. https://doi.org/10.2307/3544308.

Bunge, M. 1997. La ciencia, su método y su filosofía. Editorial Sudamérica, Buenos Aires.

Calderón, J. E. 2016. The hypothetical-deductive method or the inference to the best explanation: the case of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Ludus Vitalis 24(45):127-134.

Carlton, J. T. 1996. Pattern, process, and prediction in marine invasion ecology. Biological Conservation 78(1-2):97-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(96)00020-1.

Dimarco, R., G. Russo, and A. G Farji-Brener. 2004. Patrones de herbivoría en seis especies leñosas del bosque templado de América del Sur: evidencia preliminar a favor de la hipótesis del balance carbono–nutrientes. Ecología Austral 14(1):039-043.

Farji-Brener, A. G. 2003. Uso correcto, parcial e incorrecto de los términos" hipótesis" y" predicciones" en ecología. Ecología Austral 13(02):223-227.

Farji-Brener, A. G. 2004. ¿Son hipótesis las hipótesis estadísticas? Ecología Austral 14(2):201-203.

Farji-Brener, A. G. 2007. Ser o no ser director, esa es la cuestión: reflexiones sobre cómo (no) debería ser el desarrollo de una tesis doctoral. Ecología Austral 17(2):287-292.

Farji-Brener, A. G. 2009. ¿Ecólogos o ególogos? Cuando las ideas someten a los datos. Ecología Austral 19(2):167-172.

Farji-Brener, A. G. 2019. Una propuesta de marco conceptual para el desarrollo de proyectos de investigación en Entomología y ciencias afines. Revista Colombiana De Entomología 45(1):e7805. https://doi.org/10.25100/socolen.v45i0.7805.

Farji-Brener, A. G. 2020. ¿18 años no es nada? Una nueva revisión del uso correcto, parcial e incorrecto de los términos ‘hipótesis’ y ‘predicciones’ en ecología. Ecología Austral 30(3):393-400. https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.20.30.3.0.1129.

Feinsinger, P. 2001. Designing field studies for biodiversity conservation. Island Press.

Feinsinger, P. 2013. Metodologías de investigación en ecología aplicada y básica: ¿cuál estoy siguiendo, y por qué? Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 86(4):385-402. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2013000400002.

Feinsinger, P., I. V Rodríguez, A. E. Izquierdo, and S. Buzato. 2020. The Inquiry Cycle and Applied Inquiry Cycle: Integrated Frameworks for Field Studies in the Environmental Sciences. BioScience 70(12):1065-1081. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa108.

Galetto, L., C. Torres, and N. Pérez-Harguindeguy. 2007. Reflexiones sobre el desarrollo del doctorado considerando la relación orientador-orientado y la metodología pedagógica subyacente. Ecología Austral 17(2):293-298.

Glass, D. J., and N. Hall. 2008. A brief history of the hypothesis. Cell 134:378-381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2008.07.033.

García Curilaf, C. I. 2019. Una propuesta sistémica superadora para el abordaje de los problemas ontológicos en ecología, Prometeica - Revista de Filosofía y Ciencias 19:6-19. https://doi.org/10.34024/prometeica.2019.19.9646.

González Del Solar, R., and L. Marone. 2001. The ‘freezing’ of science: consequences of the dogmatic teaching of ecology. BioScience 51(8):683-686. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0683:TFOSCO]2.0.CO;2.

Guthery, F. S. 2007. Deductive and inductive methods of accumulating reliable knowledge in wildlife science. The Journal of Wildlife Management 71(1):222-225. https://doi.org/10.2193/2006-276.

Heger, T., and J. M. Jeschke. 2014. The enemy release hypothesis as a hierarchy of hypotheses. Oikos 123(6):741-750. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.01263.x.

Hobbs, N. T., and R. Hilborn. 2006. Alternatives to statistical hypothesis testing in ecology: a guide to self-teaching. Ecological Applications 16(1):5-19. https://doi.org/10.1890/04-0645.

Kardish, M. R., U. G., Mueller, S. Amador-Vargas, E. I. Dietrich, R. Ma, B. Barrett, and C. C Fang. 2015. Blind trust in unblinded observation in ecology, evolution, and behavior. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3:51. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00051.

Kerr, N. L. 1998. HARKing: Hypothesizing after the results are known. Personality and Social Psychology Review 2(3):196-217. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0203_4.

Koricheva, J. 2002. The carbon-nutrient balance hypothesis is dead; long live the carbon-nutrient balance hypothesis? Oikos 98(3):537-539. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.980319.x.

Landy, F. J. 1986. Stamp collecting versus science: Validation as hypothesis testing. American Psychologist 41(11):1183. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.11.1183.

Lawton, J. H. 1996. Patterns in ecology. Oikos 75:145-147. https://doi.org/10.2307/3546237.

Loehle, C. 1987. Hypothesis testing in ecology: Psychological aspects and the importance of theory maturation. The Quarterly Review of Biology 62:397-409. https://doi.org/10.1086/415619.

Marquet, P. A., A. P. Allen, J. H. Brown, J. A. Dunne, B. J. Enquist, J. F. Gillooly, P. A. Gowaty, J. L. Green, J. Harte, S. P. Hubbell, J. O’Dwyer, J. G. Okie, A. Ostling, M. Ritchie, D. Storch, and G. B. West. 2014. On theory in ecology. BioScience 64:701-710. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu098.

Marone, L., and L. Galetto. 2011. El doble papel de las hipótesis en la investigación ecológica y su relación con el método hipotético-deductivo. Ecología Austral 21(2):201-216.

Mentis, M. T. 1988. Hypothetico-deductive and inductive approaches in ecology. Functional Ecology 2(1):5-14. https://doi.org/10.2307/2389454.

Miller, T. R., T. D., Baird, C. M. Littlefield, G. Kofinas, F. S, Chapin III, and C. L. Redman. 2008. Epistemological pluralism: reorganizing interdisciplinary research. Ecology and Society 13(2):46. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02671-130246.

Murrell, D. J., D. W Purves, and R. Law. 2001. Uniting pattern and process in plant ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16(10):529-530. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(01)02292-3.

Nickerson, R. E. 1998. Confirmation bias: a ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review in General Psychology 2:175-220. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.2.175.

Pickett, S. T., J. Kolasa, and C. Jones. 2010. Ecological understanding: the nature of theory and the theory of nature. Elsevier.

Püffel, F., A. Pouget, X. Liu, M. Zuber, T. van de Kamp, F. Roces, and D. Labonte. 2021. Morphological determinants of bite force capacity in insects: a biomechanical analysis of polymorphic leaf-cutter ants. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 18(182):20210424. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0424.

Rosen, J. 2016. Research protocols: A forest of hypotheses. Nature 536:239-241. https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7615-239a.

Tewksbury, J. J., J. G. T Anderson, J. D., Bakker, T. J. Billo, P. W. Dunwiddie, M. J, Groom, S. E. Hampton, S. G. Herman, D. J. Levey, N. J. Machnicki, C. M. del Rio, M. E. Power, K. Rowell, A. K Salomon, L. Stacey, S. C. Trombulak, and T. A Wheeler. 2014. Natural history's place in science and society. BioScience 64:300-310. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu032.

Wilson, K. A., M. F McBride, M. Bode, and H. P. Possingham. 2006. Prioritizing global conservation efforts. Nature 440(7082):337-340. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04366.

Yanco, S. W., A. McDevitt, C. N. Trueman, L. Hartley, and M. B. Wunder. 2020. A modern method of multiple working hypotheses to improve inference in ecology. Royal Society Open Science 7(6):200231. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200231.

Werenkraut, V., and A. Ruggiero, A. 2014. The richness and abundance of epigaeic mountain beetles in north‐western Patagonia, Argentina: assessment of patterns and environmental correlates. Journal of Biogeography 41(3):561-573. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12210.

¿Plantear o no plantear hipótesis? Sugerencias para estudiantes, directores y revisores.

Downloads

Published

2022-05-28

Versions

How to Cite

Farji-Brener, A. (2022). To pose or not to pose hypotheses? Suggestions for students, editors and reviewers. Ecología Austral, 32(2), 434–443. https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.22.32.2.0.1914

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 2 (2022): August 2022. Pages 297-598

Section

Forum

License

Authors retain their rights as follows: 1) by granting the journal the right to its first publication, and 2) by registering the published article with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which allows authors and third parties to view and use it as long as they clearly mention its origin (citation or reference, including authorship and first publication in this journal). Authors can make other non-exclusive distribution agreements as long as they clearly indicate their origin and are encouraged to widely share and disseminate the published version of their work.