Use of theoretical frameworks in dissertation work

In a typical dissertation report structure, the respective chapters are as follows:

1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Research methods
4. Findings and Analysis
5. Conclusions and recommendations
References
Appendix

In a dissertation report, literature review plays a pivotal role; it reviews the relevant literature to gather and, subsequently, to consolidate all the main ideas and approaches from the literature that are then employed to guide the student (as a researcher) to conduct the investigation. The investigation process is thus theory-driven. To to specific, the literature review is likely to produce a theoretical framework that is used to mould the research design, which is mainly explained and justified in Chapter 3 of a dissertation report.

A theoretical framework can be depicted in the form of a diagram that incorporates all the relevant ideas (from the researcher's perspective) that guides the investigation process. The following diagram is an example of a theoretical framework constructed by me for a logistics workshop some time ago:

A theoretical framework explains how and why a theory-driven research process based on it is able to produce valid and relevant knowledge to meet the dissertation objectives. Some of the elements of a theoretical framework are controllable variables in the study; others are uncontrollable variables; some of the elements are intermediate variables; and there are elements that are output, outcome, and systems performance variables in the study. If you type "theoretical frameworks" in google with the option of "images" chosen, you will see some examples of theoretical frameworks. In my project works, some students develop theoretical frameworks such as a consumer behavior model for purchase of properties in Hong Kong, marketing strategy framework for a medium-sized bank in Hong Kong, etc.

Being able to formulate a theoretical framework in literature review itself is a concrete achievement in the exercise of literature review. Once constructed, students can also indicate in the theoretical framework how the various data gathering efforts (e.g. interviews, observations, document studies, etc) are related to which parts of the theoretical framework that you produced. In this case, the theoretical framework is used as a roadmap of the theory-driven research process adopted in the dissertation work. Such a diagram facilitates the dissertation markers to comprehend your dissertation report and it also helps you (the student) to organize your thinking and report content better.

I highly recommend students in dissertation works to formulate and employ theoretical frameworks.

Related study note

References

1. Cycle of theory-building: http://www.innosight.com/documents/Theory%20Building.pdf
2. On conceptual framework: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_framework