ATS3222 Chap.7 Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks
Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks
Week 6 turns from gathering data towards making sense of it. Its class questions are direct: what is a concept, what a conceptual framework is, and what job that framework does inside a project?
The unit book treats building one as a necessary stage of analysis, since it is how a project makes meaning from what it gathers.
The chapter defines a concept as an abstract idea that must be defined for a particular study, and a conceptual framework as the set of key concepts and expected relationships, usually drawn as a diagram.
It follows the workshop sequence: identify concepts, identify relationships, write them on sticky notes, visualise the framework, and present it. A worked framework for older adults' continued use of telehealth defines four concepts and proposes how they relate.
Practice tasks find concepts inside a topic about trust in news on social media and explain why open-ended interviews still need a framework.
The chapter ends by distinguishing conceptual from theoretical frameworks, the subject of Week 7, and by showing how a framework supports the research design section of the proposal.
Students often treat the framework diagram as decoration added at the end. This chapter argues the opposite: drawn early, it tells you what to ask in interviews, which survey items to write and which codes to start with.
Drawn late, it only describes what you happened to find.
What this chapter covers
- 01
What a concept is
- 02
Defining concepts for your study
- 03
What a conceptual framework shows
- 04
Mapping relationships between concepts
- 05
Drawing the framework
- 06
Frameworks and analysis
- 07
Conceptual versus theoretical frameworks
Worked example · free
Build a three-concept framework
- +1Concepts: academic confidence, peer connection in class, and timetable pressure from paid work.
- +1Definition: academic confidence is a student's belief that they can contribute to discussion without embarrassment.
- +1Relationship one: low peer connection may lower academic confidence, which reduces attendance.
- +1Relationship two: timetable pressure may reduce attendance directly, regardless of confidence.
Key terms
- Operational definition
- A statement of exactly how a concept will be recognised or measured in a particular study.
- Framework diagram
- A visual showing a study's key concepts and the relationships expected among them.
- Theoretical framework
- An established explanation that a study borrows to interpret its data and define its concepts.
- Relationship
- An expected connection between two concepts, such as one strengthening or weakening another.
- Sensitising concept
- A loosely defined idea that directs attention in early analysis without fixing what will be found.
Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks FAQ
What is the purpose of a conceptual framework?
It names the ideas a study expects to matter and how they relate, which focuses data collection and gives the analysis a starting point. The unit book treats it as an essential step in analysing data.
How is a conceptual framework different from a theoretical one?
A conceptual framework sets out this study's concepts and expected relationships. A theoretical framework is an established body of explanation the study draws those concepts from, covered in Week 7.
How was the Week 6 framework activity run?
Groups of four or five chose a topic, identified key concepts and their relationships on sticky notes, turned them into a visual framework, and presented it for discussion.
Does a qualitative study need a framework?
Yes. Even open questions need a reason to be asked, and a framework supplies it by naming what the study expects to matter. It should stay open to revision when the data shows something the framework did not anticipate.
How many concepts should a framework include?
Enough to answer the question and no more. Four or five well-defined concepts with clear relationships are usually easier to justify and to explain to a non-expert panel than a crowded diagram with a dozen.
Where does a conceptual framework appear in the proposal?
It belongs in the research design section, where it shows how your concepts connect to the methods and analysis. A simple labelled diagram with a short explanation is often the clearest way to present it to a non-expert panel.
Assessment move
List every abstract noun in your research question and decide which ones are concepts you must define. Write a one-sentence definition of each, then sketch the relationships with arrows and a reason for each arrow. Limit the diagram to five concepts, so that it can be explained to a non-expert in the proposal.
Present the diagram to someone outside the unit and ask them to explain it back; any arrow they cannot explain needs a clearer label.
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