Example of a null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis. (DV: delinquency) (IV: gender, perceptions of risk)

Null Hypothesis: There is no association between gender and perceptions of risk on delinquency. Alternative Hypothesis: There is a significant association between gender and perceptions of risk on delinquency. The null hypothesis in this scenario states that there is no relationship between gender and perceptions of risk on delinquency, while the alternative hypothesis states that there is an association between gender and perceptions of risk on delinquency. In other words, the researcher is testing to see if the difference in the amount of delinquency (dependent variable) between genders is due to the difference in perceptions of risk (independent variable).