What is the difference between conceptual framework and literature review?

What is a Literature Review

A literature review is a vital component of a research study. A literature review is a discussion on the already existing material in the subject area. Thus, this will require a collection of published [in print or online] work concerning the selected research area. In other words, a literature review is a review of the literature in the related subject area. A literature review makes a case for the research study. It analyzes the existing literature in order to identify and highlight a gap in the literature.

Moreover, a good literature review is a critical discussion, displaying the writer’s knowledge of relevant theories and approaches and awareness of contrasting arguments. A literature review should have the following features [Caulley, 1992]

• Compare and contrast different researchers’ views
• Identify areas in which researchers are in disagreement
• Group researchers who have similar conclusions
• Criticize themethodology
• Highlight exemplary studies
• Highlight gaps in research
• Indicate the connection between your study and previous studies
• Indicate how your study will contribute to the literature in general
• Conclude by summarizing what the literatureindicates

Furthermore, the structure of a literature review is similar to that of an article or essay. Overall, literature reviews help researchers to evaluate the existing literature, identify a gap in the research area, place their study in the existing research and identify future research.

What is the difference between literature review, theoretical analysis and conceptual analysis?

As a law researcher, I always have the feeling that these three are the same. Therefore, I want to learn from your experiences in this area of research. The concise answers and comments here will be of immense help to novice and up coming scholars.

Academic w

Thesis Research

Pursuing PHD

Academic Dissertations

Research Proposal Writing

Doctoral Research

Research Paper Writing

Academic Journals

Research Methods

Journal Articles

Article Writing

Presentations

Writing Skills

Research Papers

What are the differences between conceptual framework and theoretical framework?

I am a PhD student of medical sociology. I have to use both the frameworks in my research project. Your valuable and easy to understand answers will help me a lot in my research design.

regards.

Medical Sociology

Framework

Research Design

Frameworks

Research Projects

Qualitative Methods

Definition of Conceptual Framework

A conceptual framework represents the researcher’s synthesis of the literature on how to explain a phenomenon. It maps out the actions required in the course of the study, given his previous knowledge of other researchers’ point of view and his observations on the subject of research.

In other words, the conceptual framework is the researcher’s understanding of how the particularvariablesin his study connect. Thus, it identifies the variables required in the research investigation. It is the researcher’s “map” in pursuing the investigation.

As McGaghieet al. [2001] put it: The conceptual framework “sets the stage” to present the particular research question that drives the investigation being reported based on the problem statement. The problem statement of a thesis gives the context and the issues that caused the researcher to conduct the study.

The conceptual framework lies within a much broader framework called a theoretical framework. The latter draws support from time-tested theories that embody many researchers’ findings on why and how a particular phenomenon occurs.

I expounded on this definition, including its purpose, in my recent post titled “What is a Conceptual Framework? Expounded Definition and Five Purposes.”

4 Steps on How to Make the Conceptual Framework

Before you prepare your conceptual framework, you need to do the following things:

Choose your topic

Decide on what will be your research topic. The topic should be within your field of specialization. [Generate your research topic using brainstorming tips].

Do a literature review

Review relevant and updated research on the theme that you decide to work on after scrutiny of the issue at hand. Preferably use peer-reviewed, and well-known scientific journals as these are reliable sources of information.

Isolate the important variables

Identify the specific variables described in the literature and figure out how these are related. Some research abstracts contain the variables, and the salient findings thus may serve the purpose. If these are not available, find the research paper’s summary.

If the variables are not explicit in summary, get back to the methodology or the results and discussion section and quickly identify the study variables and the significant findings. Readthe TSPU Techniqueto skim articles efficiently and get to the essential points without much fuss.

Generate the conceptual framework

Build your conceptual framework using your mix of the variables from the scientific articles you have read. Your problem statement or research objective serves as a reference for constructing it. In effect, your study will attempt to answer the question that other researchers have not explained yet. Your research should address a knowledge gap.