{"id":37758,"date":"2017-02-06T12:06:07","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T20:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=37758"},"modified":"2017-02-06T12:06:08","modified_gmt":"2017-02-06T20:06:08","slug":"brought-letter-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/brought-letter-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Brought to you by the letter \u2018S\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"speculate\"<\/a><\/p>\n

S is for\u00a0SPECULATE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word speculate has bad press. It is usually equated with guessing, making things up. Not good. However, to speculate can also mean to theorise, hypothesise, surmise, make a supposition.<\/p>\n

Speculation needs a bit of a helping hand IMHO. This is my attempt at recuperating it. Speculation in research doesn\u2019t mean guessing but rather means asking What if\u2026 What if\u2026.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, much research began with some form of speculation that was then tested out \u2013 that is, the research had a hypothesis. A hypothesis is really just a What if that is stated as a positive. And this kind of hypothesising What if isn\u2019t plucked out of thin air. It\u2019s based on previous work, the researcher\u2019s or other people\u2019s, which suggests that potentially, possibly, maybe, this looks interesting\u2026<\/p>\n

These days, hypothesis-led research is only one of a number of ways to design a research project. Interpretive and \u2018blue skies\u2019 research traditions for example, are typically open-ended and do not have a hypothesis at the start which steers the investigation and results. They may have a more tentative beginning \u2013 one that actually looks more like a suppositional What if.<\/p>\n

But What ifs don\u2019t stop once the purpose of research is decided. There is an important role for speculation in other stages of research, no matter its tradition or design. Speculation is very<\/i>\u00a0helpful<\/i> in research, as long as we are aware that we are considering what might be possible. As long as we are asking What if.. What if\u2026<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n