Developing hypotheses once a question has been posed, developing hypotheses is usually the next step in the scientific inquiry process. a hypothesis is a possible answer to a scientific question or a possible explanation for a set of observations. a hypothesis is an idea that must be tested with an experiment. your observations from the experiment may or may not support your hypothesis. if your hypothesis is not supported by your observations, it does not mean your experiment was wrong. it simply means that the hypothesis is wrong and further exploration is needed. write a hypothesis about the effect a change in temperature will have on the volume of a gas.