*Some of these glossary definitions have been adapted and reproduced by permission of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Many computer and Web-related definitions have been contributed by Jason Snart, College of DuPage.

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hasty generalization A general conclusion based on a very small sample.

hedonism A moral theory which advises people to do whatever brings them pleasure.

hoax A deception or a fabrication. Internet hoaxes often take the form of dire warnings about new, and harmful, viruses that are being transmitted electronically (but that do not actually exist).

home page The opening or main page of a Web site, intended chiefly to greet visitors and provide information about the site or its owner.

HTML (hypertext markup language) Language used to identify or code text and images so they appear correctly when viewed with an Internet browser (like Internet Explorer or Netscape). HTML is made up of tags, which indicate to the browser how text and images are to be displayed. For example, the word “italics” will be italicized when it is marked up within the following tag: <i>italics</i>.

hypertext A computer-based text retrieval system that enables a user to access particular locations in Web pages or other electronic documents by clicking on links within specific Web pages or documents.

hypothesis A possible explanation that is introduced to account for a set of facts and that can be used as a basis for further investigation.