Conceptual frameworks design successful research projects, offering the draft for comprehending sophisticated phenomena and guiding scholars through their inquisitive voyage. This blog discusses a conceptual framework’s meaning, structural elements, and the systematic steps to develop one.
Whether you are an experienced scholar or only starting your research journey, familiarising yourself with conceptual frameworks is essential to gaining clarity, focus, and accuracy in your dissertation.
A conceptual framework demonstrates the anticipated connection between your variables. It explains the related goals for your study process and delineates how they connect to make coherent conclusions.
You should develop your conceptual framework before you start gathering your information. Conceptual frameworks are typically illustrated in a visual format and show cause-and-effect relationships. A researcher could begin conceptualizing this as they select their relevant thesis, paper, or dissertation topic. Afterwards, when they will sit to “write my dissertation UK”. They may need a conceptual framework to complete it.
If you want to understand what is a conceptual framework, its structure, and examples, you are at the right place. This blog offers a rundown of the conceptual framework and its nuances. So let’s start by understanding a conceptual framework’s definition.
What is A Conceptual Framework?
A conceptual framework is a body or a group of ideas and principles that direct and inform a research study. It works as a basis for comprehending the research issue and deciding how to evaluate it. It has the following objectives:
- Assessing how the core ideas or variables engage to explain the research problem
- Explaining the aim and extent of a dissertation
- Structuring concepts and explaining ideas
- Establishing the investigation and demonstrating its contribution to the domain, covering related ideas even from neighbouring disciplines as long as they’re crucial to the problem
It’s a valuable method whenever you are required to organize your thinking, clarify links between variables, or offer a theoretical ground for your analysis or research. Its implementation can contribute to a broad spectrum of academic and practical backgrounds.
Elements of A Conceptual Framework in Research
There are various elements this scheme usually involves. Let’s identify them and think about them in detail.
Problem Statement
Explaining the particular problem the conceptual scheme acknowledges, directing the choice of related constructs.
Concepts
Basic principles identifying the researched phenomenon and developing a common vocabulary.
Constructs
Accurate, quantifiable variables depicting broader conceptual ideas.
Propositions or Hypotheses
Concepts explaining bonds within the system.
Assumptions
Fundamental beliefs shape the scheme, explicit or implicit.
Boundaries
Limitations identifying the concentration of inquiry.
Context
Broader societal, cultural, and historical impacts on the phenomenon.
Interconnections
Bonds among framework components.
Variables
Components subject to observation or measurement.
Methodology
Research methods, data collection, assessment techniques, and ethics.
Literature Review
A rundown of available research, recognizing gaps.
Outcomes and Implications
Expected study outcomes and contributions to practice and knowledge.
These elements offer an organized method for executing research and assessing complicated phenomena. Learners utilize them to direct their work, create hypotheses, and facilitate a more in-depth comprehension of the subject matter.
Step-by-Step Process of Developing A Conceptual Framework
Developing a conceptual framework includes various steps to create a rational and organized basis for your dissertation. Explore our step-by-step guide.
Step 1. Finding The Thesis Statement
The initial step requires highlighting the thesis statement the research aims to address. It includes finding gaps in the current knowledge and pinpointing the problem the dissertation intends to examine.
Your thesis statement directs your research by establishing exactly what you need to discover, offering a clear focus for your research process.
Example: Research Question
Suppose your study focuses on whether students who dedicate more time to their studies secure higher exam grades. To explore this research question, you may utilize a survey or an experiment to find the connection between variables.
But before you begin gathering your information, consider developing a conceptual framework. It will help you delineate which variables to calculate and how you anticipate them correlating.
Step 2. Performing An Extensive Literature Review
The next stage entails an in-depth literature review to outline the thesis statement’s existing models, theories, and methodologies. This process helps the scholar recognize the basic ideas and variables that need consideration in the research. If you have difficulty conducting a thorough literature review, you can avail of our cheap dissertation writing services. Our team will take care of all steps of your dissertation writing process.
Step 3. Explanation of Basic Concepts and Variables
Eventually, the scholar should explain the essential variables and concepts related to the study. It involves offering clear explanations for the terminology and identifying the elements that will be calibrated or monitored during the examination.
To proceed with your thesis statement and experiment with a cause-and-effect relationship, you should first recognize at least two core variables: your dependent and independent variables.
Example:
If we take the same example we discussed in the first step, the anticipated cause is “hours of study,” which is the independent variable, the explanatory variable, or the predictor.
The anticipated effect, “exam score,” is the dependent variable or the outcome variable, or response. We can say that you think “exam score” relies on ”hours of study”. Therefore, your research statement will be that a student’s exam performance improves with the number of hours they dedicate to their studies.
Remember that causal relationships typically include different independent variables that impact the dependent variable. For our example, we will use only one independent variable: hours of study.
Step 4. Visualize Your Cause-And-Effect Relationship
Now that you’ve understood your thesis statement and variables, the first step in creating your conceptual framework is considering your anticipated cause-and-effect relationship.
We showcase this utilizing fundamental design elements of boxes and arrows. Here, each variable is shown in a box. To demonstrate a causal relationship, each arrow should begin from the independent variable (the cause) and direct to the dependent variable (the effect).
Step 5. Recognize Other Influencing Variables
It’s critical to recognize other variables that may impact the relationship between your dependent and independent variables early in your research process. Most researchers use the control, moderating, and mediating variables.
Moderating Variables
Moderators or Moderating variables change the impact that an independent variable has on a dependent variable. You can say that moderating variables alter the “effect” element of the cause-and-effect relationship.
Example: Moderator
We anticipate that the time a student dedicates to their studies is correlated to their exam grades—i.e., the more hours you study, the higher your marks will be.
Now if we introduce the moderating variable “IQ” then a pupil’s IQ level could alter the impact that the variable “hours of study” has on their marks. The more IQ they have, the less time they would need to score higher in exams.
We anticipate that the “IQ” variable moderates the impact that the number of study hours has on the grades.
Mediating Variables
Now we’ll develop the framework by introducing a mediating variable. Mediating variables connect the dependent and independent variables, enabling the relationship between them to be better defined.
Example: Mediating Variable
The mediator of the “number of practice problems finished” comes between the dependent and independent variables.
Hours of study affect the number of practice problems, which subsequently influences the exam score.
In this case, the mediating variable aids in defining why dedicating more time to study leads to higher exam grades. The more time a student dedicates to their studies, the more practice problems they will finish; the more practice problems finished, the higher the student’s exam grades will be.
Remember that mediators could be hard to understand to conclude so be careful when interpreting them.
Moderator vs. Mediator
Make sure you don’t mix up mediating and moderating variables. To understand the difference, you may consider them concerning the independent variable.
A moderator is not impacted by the independent variable, even though it impacts the dependent variable. For instance, no matter how much time a student dedicates to their studies (independent variable), their IQ will not get higher.
A mediating variable is impacted by the independent variable. Subsequently, it also impacts the dependent variable. Therefore, it connects the two variables and aids in defining the link between them.
Control Variables
Finally, control variables must also be considered. These are variables that don’t change so they don’t hamper the findings. Even though you don’t want to calibrate them for your research, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with as many of them as you can.
Example: Control Variable
It could happen that if a student is sick, they may earn lower marks on their exam. But, we don’t want to calculate health results as part of our study. This makes “health” an ideal option for a control variable. It still influences our findings but we don’t want to analyze it.
Now, we include “health” in our conceptual framework, but will keep it constant. This means we’ll only add students who are feeling well on the exam day.
Step 4. Creation of A Theoretical Framework
When the crucial variables and concepts have been developed, the scholar establishes a theoretical framework. This phase includes outlining the links between the variables and concepts and visually showing these connections.
Step 5. Validation
The last phase involves the verification of the theoretical methodology through the usage of empirical data. It entails gathering and assessing data to examine the precision and validity of the relationships recognized within the framework.
Creating a conceptual framework is an iterative process that might go through modifications as your assessment advances. It works as a blueprint for your research, guiding your study’s design, data gathering, and assessment, eventually contributing to establishing new knowledge in your subject.
Upsides and Downsides of Conceptual Framework
These models provide unique benefits in research, like offering clarity and focus by explaining concepts and highlighting essential ideas. They work as the structural base for well-planned assessment, adding current theories to develop further study.
Conceptual frameworks also help hypothesis creation, and devising testable thesis statements. Fundamentally, they improve communication and understanding among students collaborating on a common framework.
However, it’s necessary to address their downsides. Conceptual frameworks could sometimes oversimplify intricate phenomena, possibly yielding incomplete or wrong interpretations. Their creation is subjective, and modifications among scholars could lead to diverse explanations.
Rigidity in a model could limit adaptability in the research process, possibly restricting the discovery of unexpected results. Establishing a solid model takes time and requires a thorough comprehension of the subject matter. Finally, you may add bias when choosing particular ideas or theories, possibly influencing the objectivity of the research.
Conceptual Framework Examples
Below are a few examples of conceptual frameworks utilized in different subjects.
Healthcare
Social Causal Factors of the Health Model
This model elucidates how economic and social elements, like income, access to healthcare, and education, influence a person’s health and well-being.
Education
Bloom’s Taxonomy
This framework categorizes various levels of cognitive learning, from fundamental knowledge gaining to higher-order thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis.
Business
Resource-Based View (RBV) of the Company
This framework investigates how a firm’s distinct resources and abilities help it gain a competitive advantage.
Political Science
Institutionalism
Scholars in political science typically employ institutional methods to examine the influence of political institutions (such as legislatures, executives, and courts) on policy results and governance.
Communication
Media Effects Theories
These frameworks investigate how media content, like entertainment or news, could impact people’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours.
These are only some instances of the multiple frameworks utilized across different fields. Scholars typically select an example of the conceptual framework that best matches their studies’ particular thesis statements and goals.
Conclusion
Scholars, across fields, should be skilled at creating a conceptual framework before beginning their research journey. A robust conceptual framework supports good research. A conceptual model in research is utilized to comprehend a thesis statement and direct the development and assessment of the research. It works as a blueprint to conceptualize and categorize the work by offering an outline that links various ideas, concepts, and theories within a subject. A conceptual framework verbally or pictorially showcases presumed connections among the study variables.
The objective of a conceptual framework is to work as a plan for structuring and categorizing data and therefore aid scholars in creating theories and hypotheses and executing empirical studies. If you still don’t understand how to use a conceptual framework in research, you can hire our marketing research topics to get assistance with all your research worries.