THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Theoretical framework is the main foundation and basis of your study. It helps to strengthen your study by connecting your study to an existing knowledge.

It is the act of citing and discussing relevant theories to back up your study and form a foundation for variables. This further makes research more scientific and understandable to readers.

Steps for Writing Theoretical Framework

Step 1: Identify your variables

Step 2: Review your literature and choose the theory that best applies to the study

Step 3: Discuss the theory and its relationship with the study

Format of theoretical framework

Title of theory

Author of theory

The theoretical principle

Brief explanation of theory

Relationship/relevance to your study

Preambles to theoretical framework:

Any of the following patterns can be used as preamble for presenting a theoretical framework;

This study is founded on the theory of………

This research is based on the theory of……

This study supports the theory of…….

This study is anchored on the theory of………etc.

See sample

SAMPLE OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK IN RESEARCH

This study is anchored on Marxist Housing Theory

The Marxist theory gained recognition between 1844 to 1848 as a theory of social change. It was created by Karl Max and Friedrich Engels; their aim was to enable proletariat resume control over their lives in every aspect of human life. The theory has been used in housing satisfaction studies, where land use, rented housing and deteriorating housing condition were analyzed for research purposes. This theory sees housing as a necessary good, a means of subsistence that is necessary for the reproduction of labor force and a good whose cost goes directly or indirectly into production of various commodities. Meaning that housing in a capitalist social formation is of interest to classes of people other than those people who immediately consume it; housing is a fixed good, a material precondition for producing a house is that it has to occupy land in a specific location. Land is a limited product and the right to use it is preserved by legal regulation; in a capitalist social formation, housing do not only have a use but also an exchange value, it is a commodity whose consumption can only be realized by those with a housing need and who can afford one.

This theory is focused on the satisfaction of human need consisting availability of housing and the extent of quality that the housing provides and how that each unit should provide satisfactory quality to users.  It further reveals the need to accommodate users irrespective of their growing appetite for additional physical improvement as a result of social change and other economic factors.