Theoretical framework in research methodology
Of southern zing your social sciences research tical zing your social sciences research paper: theoretical purpose of this guide is to provide advice on how to develop and organize a research paper in the social of research flaws to ndent and dependent ry of research terms. Choosing a research ing a topic ning a topic ing the timeliness of a topic idea. An oral g with g someone else's to manage group of structured group project survival g a book le book review ing collected g a field informed g a policy g a research es are formulated to explain, predict, and understand phenomena and, in many cases, to challenge and extend existing knowledge within the limits of critical bounding assumptions.
Theoretical framework in quantitative research
The theoretical framework is the structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study. The theoretical framework introduces and describes the theory that explains why the research problem under study , gabriel. Theoretical framework consists of concepts and, together with their definitions and reference to relevant scholarly literature, existing theory that is used for your particular study.
The theoretical framework must demonstrate an understanding of theories and concepts that are relevant to the topic of your research paper and that relate to the broader areas of knowledge being theoretical framework is most often not something readily found within the literature. You must review course readings and pertinent research studies for theories and analytic models that are relevant to the research problem you are investigating. The selection of a theory should depend on its appropriateness, ease of application, and explanatory theoretical framework strengthens the study in the following ways:An explicit statement of theoretical assumptions permits the reader to evaluate them theoretical framework connects the researcher to existing knowledge.
Guided by a relevant theory, you are given a basis for your hypotheses and choice of research lating the theoretical assumptions of a research study forces you to address questions of why and how. A theoretical framework specifies which key variables influence a phenomenon of interest and highlights the need to examine how those key variables might differ and under what virtue of its applicative nature, good theory in the social sciences is of value precisely because it fulfills one primary purpose: to explain the meaning, nature, and challenges associated with a phenomenon, often experienced but unexplained in the world in which we live, so that we may use that knowledge and understanding to act in more informed and effective conceptual framework. Developing the are some strategies to develop of an effective theoretical framework:Examine your thesis title and research problem.
The research problem anchors your entire study and forms the basis from which you construct your theoretical torm about what you consider to be the key variables in your research. The assumptions or propositions of this theory and point out their relevance to your research. Theoretical framework is used to limit the scope of the relevant data by focusing on specific variables and defining the specific viewpoint [framework] that the researcher will take in analyzing and interpreting the data to be gathered.
It also facilitates the understanding of concepts and variables according to given definitions and builds new knowledge by validating or challenging theoretical of theories as the conceptual basis for understanding, analyzing, and designing ways to investigate relationships within social systems. To that end, the following roles served by a theory can help guide the development of your by which new research data can be interpreted and coded for future use,Response to new problems that have no previously identified solutions strategy,Means for identifying and defining research problems,Means for prescribing or evaluating solutions to research problems,Ways of discerning certain facts among the accumulated knowledge that are important and which facts are not,Means of giving old data new interpretations and new meaning,Means by which to identify important new issues and prescribe the most critical research questions that need to be answered to maximize understanding of the issue,Means of providing members of a professional discipline with a common language and a frame of reference for defining the boundaries of their profession, to guide and inform research so that it can, in turn, guide research efforts and improve professional d from: torraco, r. Administrative science quarterly 40 (september 1995): ure and writing theoretical framework may be rooted in a specific theory, in which case, your work is expected to test the validity of that existing theory in relation to specific events, issues, or phenomena.
You may not always be asked by your professor to test a specific theory in your paper, but to develop your own framework from which your analysis of the research problem is derived. Based upon the above example, it is perhaps easiest to understand the nature and function of a theoretical framework if it is viewed as an answer to two basic questions:What is the research problem/question? I could choose instead to test instrumentalist or circumstantialists models developed among ethnic conflict theorists that rely upon socio-economic-political factors to explain individual-state relations and to apply this theoretical model to periods of war between nations].
Answers to these questions come from a thorough review of the literature and your course readings [summarized and analyzed in the next section of your paper] and the gaps in the research that emerge from the review process. With this in mind, a complete theoretical framework will likely not emerge until after you have completed a thorough review of the as a research problem in your paper requires contextualization and background information, a theory requires a framework for understanding its application to the topic being investigated. When writing and revising this part of your research paper, keep in mind the following:Clearly describe the framework, concepts, models, or specific theories that underpin your study.
This includes noting who the key theorists are in the field who have conducted research on the problem you are investigating and, when necessary, the historical context that supports the formulation of that theory. This latter element is particularly important if the theory is relatively unknown or it is borrowed from another on your theoretical framework within a broader context of related frameworks, concepts, models, or theories. As noted in the example above, there will likely be several concepts, theories, or models that can be used to help develop a framework for understanding the research problem.
Although the past tense can be used to describe the history of a theory or the role of key theorists, the construction of your theoretical framework is happening should make your theoretical assumptions as explicit as possible. Later, your discussion of methodology should be linked back to this theoretical ’t just take what the theory says as a given! What parts of the research problem require further investigation because the theory inadequately explains a certain phenomena].
Growing and increasingly important trend in the social and behavioral sciences is to think about and attempt to understand specific research problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. Building theoretical frameworks based on the postulates and hypotheses developed in other disciplinary contexts can be both enlightening and an effective way to be fully engaged in the research an, robert. Be sure to always connect theory to the review of pertinent literature and to explain in the discussion part of your paper how the theoretical framework you chose supports analysis of the research problem, or if appropriate, how the theoretical framework was found in some way to be inadequate in explaining the phenomenon you were investigating.
However, the difference between theory and hypothesis in scholarly research is important, particularly when using an experimental design. Asstatement of the problem, theoretical framework, hypotheses, and research methodologyauthorsauthors and affiliationsgeertje else ations of the netherlands interuniversity demographic institute (n. It will define the research problem (section 1), describe its theoretical base, hypotheses and concepts along with a review of cohabitation literature (section 2), and the last three sections (3, 4, 5) explain the research design, the sampling and data-collection procedures, and the construction of the wunable to display preview.
