HARKing refers to presenting which kind of hypothesis?

• A. A post hoc hypothesis as if it were a priori.
• B. A hypothesis tested with corrected p-values.
• C. A hypothesis defined before data collection.
• D. A hypothesis that is not testable.

Answer: (A)

HARKing stands for Hypothesizing After the Results are Known. It refers to presenting a hypothesis that was generated after examining the data as if it had been stated before data collection. This is the essence of the practice: a post hoc idea is framed and reported as if it were a priori, which makes the evidence seem more confirmatory than it actually is and can inflate the chance of finding a statistically significant result by chance alone. The best description here is a post hoc hypothesis presented as if it were decided beforehand.

The other ideas don’t fit because a hypothesis defined before data collection describes proper preregistration, testing with corrected p-values relates to adjusting for multiple comparisons, and a not-testable hypothesis isn’t about the timing of when the hypothesis was formed.