Step 2: Form a Hypothesis and a Prediction
If your unanswered question simply asks for a description of a variable or
variables, you can skip this step and go directly to Step 3 of the research process.
However, if your question concerns the relationship between variables,
the next task is to form a hypothesis, or a tentative answer to the question. For
example, if your question is whether serving larger portions leads to overeating,
a hypothesis could be stated as follows: Increasing portion size will cause
an increase in the amount of food eaten.