How Do You Write A Theoretical Framework
Would you want to know how to write a theoretical framework? Based on my experience, every dissertation must have either a theoretical base, a conceptual structure, or both.
The literature review part talks about these. It would help if you thought about the theoretical background because it will help you judge your research problem and research questions.
In quantitative studies, you need to include a theory framework part.
In qualitative studies, you use a conceptual framework. If you know which theory or theories you want to use, you need to know what information to include and how to include it in your discussion.
An important part of any research study is the theory structure. It gives your study a solid base by listing the main ideas, factors, and connections you will look into in your research.
For this step-by-step help, we will show you how to write a theoretical framework, from getting the basics right to editing and improving your work.
Now, let’s get started.
What Is a Theoretical Framework
A theoretical framework is an overview of current theories that provides a solid basis upon which to build the arguments you will make in your work.
Researchers create theories to discover connections, explain phenomena, and forecast future events.
Explaining the current theories that bolster your study and demonstrating the relevance and solid foundation of your article or dissertation subject are the goals of a theoretical framework.
Stated differently, your theoretical framework serves as the foundation for your research paper, thesis, or dissertation and serves to both justify and contextualize the subsequent research that you do.
A comprehensive theoretical foundation prepares you for success in your subsequent writing and research endeavors.
Across all fields, some of the most widely accepted hypotheses are as follows:
Critical, situational, behavioral, transformative, feminist, gender, and Marxist.
Make sure that every piece of information in your paper—variables, constructions, questions, and concepts—is in line with a theoretical framework.
This will help you decide on an efficient study strategy and methodology.
How Do You Start a Theoretical Framework
You should first clearly identify and explain the theory or ideas you have chosen.
The author(s) of the concept and specifics about the original study, such as the population, goal, and findings, should be included in this material.
Having this knowledge will facilitate your ability to show how the theory connects to your research and emphasize the reasons why the theory you have chosen is appropriate for use in your investigation.
You must explain why the theory is pertinent to your study and how you plan to utilize the data from it to conduct and assess your research after introducing and discussing your chosen theory in the theoretical Foundations portion of your literature review.
For instance, talking about the satisfaction of needs as described in Maslow’s theory would assist you in defining his theory and demonstrating its applicability to your research if you decide to base your study on employee engagement on his 1943 Hierarchy of Needs.
After that, you may talk about how employees’ motivation is related to their wants being met (according to Maslow) and how your study will apply Maslow’s theory to assess and resolve the issue you have discovered.
How Do You Write a Theoretical Framework
You can do the following three actions to develop your theoretical framework:
1. Determine your main ideas.
Selecting the most important phrases from your research questions and issue description is the first step. Since concepts can have several definitions, your theoretical framework needs to specify each word precisely.
Example: Research questions and the problem statement
A recently opened shop in the downtown area needs help with the issue of many of its online clients not coming back to make more purchases.
An important problem for the otherwise rapidly expanding shop is this.
The management’s objective is to boost client loyalty, and they think that increasing customer happiness will be crucial to reaching their target of more repeat business.
You have determined that the following issue statement, objective, and research questions will be the main areas of concentration for your investigation of this subject:
Issue: A lot of internet shoppers don’t come back to buy more.
The aim is to enhance the number of repeat consumers.
Research question: What steps can firm X take to make its online consumers happier so that more of them come back?
This research places a strong emphasis on the ideas of “customer satisfaction” and “customer loyalty,” as well as how they relate to the possibility of a repeat client.
These ideas should be defined, and hypotheses on the relationships between these variables should be included in your theoretical framework.
2. Assess and clarify pertinent theories
You may find out how other academics have defined these important ideas and made links between them by doing an extensive literature survey.
Your goal when you compose your theoretical framework is to assess and contrast the various techniques that other writers have used.
You can decide which definitions best match your study after debating various models and ideas, and you can provide evidence for your decision.
If you feel that combining theories from several disciplines would help you better understand your subject, you can even do it.
Make sure to provide a brief discussion of each of the major theories that are connected to your main ideas.
Give a justification for your decision not to use a well-established theory if you want to use it in your study.
3. Illustrate how your study complements earlier studies.
Your theoretical framework should not only summarize and discuss current theories but also demonstrate how your research will build upon and advance these concepts.
One or more of the following actions might be your goal:
- Determine if a theory is valid in a particular, previously unexplored situation.
- Utilize an established theory to help you interpret your findings.
- Examine and refute an idea
- Integrate several theories in a novel or distinctive manner.
Why Do We Write Theoretical Frameworks
Before we start our study, we examine the models and hypotheses created by previous scholars. This data is intended to be presented and explained using a theoretical framework.
There might be other hypotheses that support your topic. As a result, we pick the most pertinent ones, assess them, and contrast their conclusions.
It is simpler for us to explain our ideas to readers when we frame our study within a certain framework.
Then, it will be simpler for them to comprehend the reasoning behind our decisions.
The theoretical framework establishes the foundation for all of your analysis. In the end, it will assist you in interpreting the results of your study and drawing wider conclusions in order to formulate a theory.
What Is The Importance Of a Theoretical Framework
The following are some ways that theoretical frameworks are meant to assist you when you do your research:
- Establish a framework for the entire research procedure.
- Help researchers apply formal ideas as a framework for their research.
- Give a general guideline to keep the research focused.
- Direct the choice of research techniques, information gathering, and analysis.
Develop research questions and hypotheses while assisting in the understanding of the connections between various topics.
Fill in the gaps in the body of knowledge by analyzing the data gathered, drawing insightful conclusions, and improving the generalizability of the results.
What Is The Examples of a Theoretical Framework
Utilizing a sample theoretical framework might assist you in efficiently arranging your data and producing a coherent research report. Here is an example of a theoretical framework that makes use of the moon of Mars:
This research aims to refute the 1877 idea by astronomer Asaph Hall, who claimed that only two moons are circling Mars.
Problem: A lot of astronomers only see that Mars has two moons orbiting it, ignoring a third celestial body.
Why does the third celestial body circling Mars meet the criteria for being a moon?
Subquestions: Why has the third celestial body gone unnoticed by astronomers until now? Which of the astral body’s activities point to its orbit?
Review of the literature: Hall proposed that the moons of Mars could have originated from a planetary ring millions of years ago since they were smaller and more akin to asteroids than the moons of Earth.
He said that the moons may someday break apart and surround the planet in a ring.
Furthermore, the 1971 and 1972 Mariner 9 missions revealed a detailed view of every moon and offered proof of the asteroid forms and orbits around Mars.
Final Thought
Now that we have established How to write a theoretical framework, this article has thoroughly defined the theoretical model. After reading all the parts, you should easily create a theoretical framework.
It is essential to your research report since it describes how you create, gather, and explain your findings.
The blog also explained theoretical framework creation. Create project-specific models using these details. After that, you may require a conceptual framework.
But What if things get tough? Making an effective theoretical framework is difficult, so contact our experts for help.
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