Activity 3.3
Identifying Hypotheses

There are numerous sources of hypotheses. Expressions of political opinion found on editorial pages (and op-ed pages) in newspapers often contain testable propositions, stated as fact, that are used to support arguments. The authors of these editorials want readers to assume these "statements of fact" are true in order to support the opinions in the article, but often these "facts" have not been systematically confirmed using appropriate research methods. Carefully read this editorial taken from a daily newspaper.

1. Extract and write at least four statements from the editorial or column that might be considered "hypothetical."
2. Rewrite the four statements as useful hypotheses.