Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Can you have a Hypothesis without doing an experiment? My Science Fair Project is about how the body reacts to the human body.

Hi Lizofthefuture,

Are you doing a science fair project that requires you to do an experiment? Or, do you have a hypothesis in your head, but you don't plan to test it? Formulating a hypothesis usually happens before doing an experiment. In fact, our hypothesis determines what kind of experiment we do. This Science Buddies article has a great discussion about how to formulate a hypothesis: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... esis.shtml. If you post back with more details, I will be better able to help you.

At my school's science fair you have to have a hypothesis, but I thought that you had to do an experiment to have a hypothesis?

Hi Lizofthefuture,

Thanks for clarifying! No, you do not have to do an experiment to have a hypothesis. Hypotheses come before experiments do, and there are lots of hypotheses that don't get tested. I have a couple in my head that have been lurking there for years now, just waiting for the time, money, and means to test them!