Answer:
after gathering initial data and defining the research
Explanation:
"Hypothesis" refers to the researcher's scientific guess or prediction about the outcome of a research. Such expectation is being done after gathering initial data and defining the research, which means it happens before even conducting the study.
Under hypothesis, the variables' relationships are being predicted but with no evidence yet. It is very important to make a hypothesis according to three criteria: specificity and clearness, testability and falsifiability.
