What is an operational Hypothesis, and how would I wright one about the study below?

The State of Wisconsin began running a Boot Camp for first time youth drug offenders. The camp entails sending the ofenders to the north woods from 3/14/2011 - 3/27/2011. "Campers" will build their own shelters and cook over open fires. The camp also includes traditional boot camp aspects like exercise, drills, etc. Billy Badger was given the job of determining the effectiveness of the boot camp. The next time the boot camp is conducted, he will compare a random sample of offenders placed in traditional programs (e.g., probation, incarceration, drug treatment, etc.) to a random sample of offenders placed in the boot camp. He is planning on comparing the two groups on recidivism rates for the next two years.