What do you call research that has no hypothesis?

Question

Background: I'm just wondering - I'm writing my bachelor's "thesis" in information-systems management, which should in theory be a paper about a hypothesis I make, an experiment and an evaluation.

I have an "experiment" which is comparing reality of information-systems management to various theories of information-systems management. I have my evaluation.

But my "thesis"... is basically my assumption based on experience that says: "theory is based on assumptions that practice do not always exist". And my "experiment" neither proves nor disproves this triviality, but is supposed to show how you can tailor the management theory for it to be useful under economic constraints to a real specific problem.

Question: What should I call this thing, since it isn't a thesis?

Answer 1

It is a thesis. From what you've written, your hypothesis is that

you can tailor the [information-systems] management theory for it to be useful under economic constraints to a real specific problem

You might also be doing exploratory research, or blue-skies research, where you don't start with a research question, you start with a direction, subject or area, and go wandering off looking for interesting problems.

Answer 2

Before creating a hypothesis, it may be necessary to make experiments and discover the laws (Ohms law, Newtons laws and the like). Laws are not hypothesis. They do not suppose anything, just describe discovered regularities (correlation, regression, sometimes more complex curve fitting) in a way more compact than raw experimental data. If you have good experimental data without hypothesis, you may simply be in this stage of exploration.

Discovering the laws may be required before any hypothesis can be formulated. Try to propose and test your hypothesis now, maybe it is time.

Answer 3

It almost sounds like a literature review or critique, where you have a particular lens or perspective from which to observe and interpret other ideas.