Theoretical Framework *step by step

Your supervisor asks you, what's your theoretical framework? You say social capital theory. And they ask you, how does this apply to your research? You have nothing to say. Here is what a theoretical framework actually is and how to build one that fits your study together. Students confuse theory with literature review. And theory as well is not just naming a framework. A theoretical framework is the lens through which you see your research. It tells you what to look for, how to interpret what you find, why things happen the way they do. Without it, your research will be spineless. This is how to build one properly. A theoretical framework does these three things. Why does this happen? It explains the phenomenon. How does this work? It describes the mechanism and it guides your investigation. What should you look for? For example, a research question like how do small holders farmers in Ghana adapt to climate induced drought stress in wheat cultivation. Without a theory for this particular research question, you can say farmers adapt because conditions change. But that explains nothing. With theory, you can look at the adaptive capacity framework. Say something like, farmer's ability to adapt to drought depends on five capitals. The natural capital, that is access to land and water. The physical capital, that is access to irrigation equipment, financial as well, that is savings and access to credit. Human capital, that is possession of skill and maybe knowledge, then social capital, that is access to networks and maybe collective action. Each capital enables or constrains specific adaptive strategies. Now, you know what to look for. You're asking what capital do farmers have? Which strategies do they use? Which capital predicts successful adaptation? Theory will make your investigation specific. Now, let me break this down into steps. Step one, identify what your research is fundamentally about. At its core, what is your research about? Like I said, this is not about the topic. This is the question that is driving your research. I have taught you about this before. A topic is climate change impact on wheat yield in semiarid regions. But your fundamental question is why do some farming systems withstand drought stress while others collapse. This fundamental question tells you what kind of theory you will need. The second step is find theories that explain your phenomenon. For climate change in agriculture, these are relevant frameworks. The adaptive capacity framework, the stress response framework, the socio technical transition theory or political ecology. Third step, choose the framework that fits your question. The fourth step, apply the theory to your specific context. Choosing the theory is just the start. You must show how it applies to your specific research. Then the fifth step, you have to build a conceptual diagram. Draw your framework on one page. Your conceptual diagram should show your theoretical logic. It guides what you measure. It shows how variables connect and it tells you what to analyze. The sixth step, link your theory to the methodology. Your theory must drive methods. If your theory is wrong, your methods will measure the wrong things. So this is very important. At its core, what is your research about? Find a theory that explains it. Apply it specifically to your context. That is your theoretical framework. I'll see you in the next one.