Ciara believes that working women are happier than women who do not work. She predicts that women who work for at least 10 years are more likely to have good mental health after the age of 50 years than women who do not. She decides to test this prediction. In the context of psychology’s scientific method, Ciara’s prediction is the for the study she is going to conduct.

a. hypothesis
b. placebo
c. confound
d. variable