Decline of President Obama\'s Popularity:

¶ … decline of President Obama's popularity:

Despite his initial popularity, President Barack Obama's image in the public eye has steadily declined over the last two years, not because he had failed to accomplish his goals, but rather because of powers beyond his control, including the political climate between the two major parties and economic factors, that impacted his ability to effect the reforms he aimed for within time limits that the public considered reasonable.

The hypothesis is empirical, based upon observable facts; President Obama's power has significantly waned since his unprecedented victory two years ago. This is substantiated by poll results and can be further investigated by determining the public opinion.

In terms of generality, they hypothesis can be generalized across the President's term of office. There are a number of challenges he has been facing since his election. These impacted greatly upon his public image.

The hypothesis is both plausible and specific. The plausibility is based upon empirical sources observing the President's term of office and the factors that influence his effectiveness. It is also consistent with data that is not only available to the public, but can also be investigated by means of theoretical and practical research methods.

The hypothesis is testable, as research can be conducted to determine whether it can be accepted as true or must be discarded as false.

While it is true that the study included a very large population, on the basis of which the authors are perhaps justified in claiming validity and reliability, the variables included concentrate solely on academic results. The underlying causes of these results, beyond the classroom, are not considered. Student motivation and academic preparation, for example, can have a significant effect upon student performance. Parental education could also have an important impact upon the performance of these students. Parents with a higher education level, for example, might be more likely to enrol their children in the AP program. At the same time, the influence of such parents could have an impact upon student motivation and the perception of academic performance as important. In general, therefore, the study is too focused on homogeneous influencing factors to truly provide an accurate account of the reasons for better academic performance. While the AP program may play a significant part, it is not necessarily the only factor that should be investigated, especially if this could mean a wide scale change in the education system.