Which of the following is the primary purpose of using a theoretical framework in research

A theoretical framework strengthens your work in the following ways:

• An explicit statement of  theoretical assumptions permits the reader to evaluate them critically.
• The 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 methods.
• Articulating the theoretical assumptions of a research study forces you to address questions of why and how. It permits you to intellectually transition from simply describing a phenomenon you have observed to generalizing about various aspects of that phenomenon.
• Having a theory helps you identify the limits to those generalizations. 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 circumstances.

By 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 ways.

The Conceptual Framework. College of Education. Alabama State University; Corvellec, Hervé, ed. What is Theory?: Answers from the Social and Cultural Sciences. Stockholm: Copenhagen Business School Press, 2013; Asher, Herbert B. Theory-Building and Data Analysis in the Social Sciences. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1984; Drafting an Argument. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Ravitch, Sharon M. and Matthew Riggan. Reason and Rigor: How Conceptual Frameworks Guide Research. Second edition. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2017; Trochim, William M.K. Philosophy of Research. Research Methods Knowledge Base. 2006; Jarvis, Peter. The Practitioner-Researcher. Developing Theory from Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1999.

• E-Book Databases
• Google
• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Roadrunner Search
• SAGE Research Methods
• Web of Knowledge

• Ebook Central This link opens in a new window

  Proquest’s multi-disciplinary e-book collection. Download or read books online, as well as highlight and take notes in text. Browse by subject option.

• Credo Reference This link opens in a new window

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  A reference database useful for accessing scholarly definitions, background and contextual information. Links you to various reference materials and includes a mind map feature that provides a visual of concepts related to your term. Subjects covered include art, biography, business, economics, education, history, literature, music, psychology, religion, and science and technology.

Use the Library’s e-book databases to gather background information on a particular theory or theorist. Since the e-book databases will contain fewer resources than a database containing thousands of scholarly journal articles, it is best to keep your search terms a little more broad.

For example, a search for education theory in the Ebook Central database results in many relevant e-books, as shown below. Expanding the Table of Contents will provide additional details about the e-book.

Encyclopedias and handbooks will also provide reliable background information on particular theories. For example, a search for cognitive developmental theory in the Credo Reference database results in a number of reference entries which discuss the history of the theory, identify relevant theorists, and cite seminal research studies.

You may search for theorists and theoretical information using Google and Google Scholar, as well. However, please keep in mind that you will need to be more discriminating when it comes to using material found on open access websites. We recommend reviewing the Website Evaluation guidelines when considering online sources.

One method that may be used in Google is limiting your search by a particular domain name. If a website ends in .org, .gov, or .edu, it is more likely to be a scholarly source. If it ends in .com or .net it is less likely to be a scholarly source. In the search below, for example, we have limited our search for "leadership theories" to just those websites ending with .edu. You may also find this domain limiter under Tools>Advanced Search.

Note: Limiting to a particular domain is not necessary in Google Scholar, as all results in Google Scholar may be considered scholarly. This may include articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, material from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.

For additional information, see the following:

• Google Scholar Quick Tutorial Video

  A short video demonstration of using Google Scholar for academic research.

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses @ Northcentral University This link opens in a new window

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  NCU student dissertations and literature reviews. Use for foundational research, to locate test instruments and data, and more. Search by advisor (chair), degree, degree level, or department. Includes a read-aloud feature.

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window

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  Global dissertations. Use for foundational research, to locate test instruments and data, and more. Search by advisor (chair), degree, degree level, or department. Includes a read-aloud feature Includes a read-aloud feature.

Since most doctoral research requires a theoretical framework, looking at completed dissertations related to your topic is an effective way to identify relevant theories and theorists. ProQuest Dissertations is accessible from Research Resources - Dissertation Resources, and provides access to over 1 million full text doctoral dissertations and graduate theses. You may limit your search to only doctoral dissertations by using the Advanced Search screen. Look at the table of contents or abstract for reference to theoretical framework, as shown below. The dissertation’s references/bibliography will have a full citation to the original theorist’s research.

• Roadrunner Search This link opens in a new window

  The library’s main search engine that searches across databases for a comprehensive search that will yield the most results in the form of scholarly journals, e-books, videos and more. However, certain databases and publisher content are not searchable in Roadrunner, and individual databases may need to be searched to retrieve information due to unique content.

On the Roadrunner Advanced Search screen, include theor* as one your search terms, as shown below. It will retrieve results that include one of the following keywords: theory, theories, theoretical, theorist, or theorists. It is important to keep in mind, however, that this is not a foolproof method for locating theoretical frameworks. Scholars will often cite theory or theorists in order to refute them, or because they are saying something that's tangentially related, or they may even just refer to theory briefly in passing. In our example, we have selected the field for AB Abstract because if theory is mentioned within the abstract, the study is more likely to take a theoretical approach.
 

As shown below, results from our example search clearly include articles which apply theory to the topic of curriculum design.
 

Remember to look past the article title. Theoretical information may be mentioned in a subheading, or referred to elsewhere in the document. Use the FIND feature in your PDF viewer or internet browser to scan the document for terms such as theor (to pull up theory, theorist, theoretical), framework, conceptual, perspective, etc., as shown below.

• SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new window

  Books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos on research methods and design. Use to learn more about qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research. Includes tools to help guide a research project. Filter by source type, discipline, and search for keywords within texts.

SAGE Research Methods is a multimedia database containing more than 1,000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos covering every step of the research process. It includes e-books and e-book chapters which may help you better understand the theoretical framework aspect of your research study. A selection of resources is included below:

Searching in SAGE Research Methods

Use the main search bar to locate information about theoretical frameworks. Search the general phrase "theoretical frameworks," or the name of a specific theoretical framework like "social cognitive theory," in quotation marks to yield results with that specific phrase. See the example below.

You may also browse content in this database by Discipline. Select Browse on the top navigation to view a list of key topics.

• Web of Knowledge This link opens in a new window

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  Citations and articles in multi-disciplines not found through a Roadrunner search. Used to conduct topic searches as well as find additional resources that have cited a specific resource (citation network).

You may conduct a Cited Reference Search in Web of Knowledge to find articles that cite a primary theorist in your area. These articles are likely to tackle your topic through your theoretical lens, or will point you toward another article that does. To access Web of Knowledge, go to Research Resources – Databases from the Library’s home page.

On the Web of Knowledge home page, click on Cited Reference Search to search for articles that cite a person's work. 

Enter the name of a key theorist in your area (in our example, John Dewey) in the format they specify (in this case Dewey J*), as shown below, and press "Search."

Select all the options that appear to relate to your theorist. For often-cited people (such as Dewey) use the "Select All*" button, even though this will probably gather in a few citations that aren't relevant to your search.  Select 'Finish Search' on the right.

On the results screen, select the appropriate Web of Science category under Refine Results. For example, we could select “Education Educational Research” and then click “Refine.” You may wish to further refine by Document Type, Research Area, Author, etc. (also located on the left hand menu). Sorting your results by “Times Cited - Oldest to Newest"  is an effective way to discover the most frequently cited works. 

Finally, start reviewing your results to see how they may relate to your topic/theory. Typically, the abstract will identify the cited theorists, as shown below.

What is the primary purpose of using a theoretical framework in research?

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