In hypothesis testing, what is the main purpose of the null hypothesis in sociology research?

In sociology research, the null hypothesis serves as a starting point for testing whether a certain idea or relationship is true or not. It proposes that there is no effect or no difference in the population being studied, which helps researchers focus on finding evidence against this assumption. For example, if a sociologist wants to study whether a new teaching method improves student performance, the null hypothesis would state that this new method has no effect compared to the traditional one. By collecting and analyzing data, researchers can determine if there is enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis, suggesting that the new method may indeed have an impact. This process is crucial because it helps ensure that any findings are based on solid evidence rather than assumptions.