Editing Conceptual framework (section)

== Overview ==
The use of the term ''conceptual framework'' crosses both scale (large and small theories)<ref name="RavitchRiggan2012">{{citation |author1=Ravitch |author2=Riggan |year=2012 |title=Reason and Rigor: How Conceptual Frameworks guide Research |location=[[Thousand Oaks, California|Thousand Oaks CA]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] |page=xiii}}</ref><ref name="Maxwell2009">{{citation |last=Maxwell |first=J. |year=2009 |chapter=Designing a qualitative study |title=The State Handbook of Applied Social Science Research |editor-last1=Bickmam |editor-first1=L. |editor-last2=Rog |editor-first2=D. |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] |page=222}}</ref> and contexts (social science,<ref name="Rodman1980">{{citation |last=Rodman |first=Hyman |title=Are Conceptual Frameworks Necessary for Theory Building? The Case of Family Sociology |journal=[[The Sociological Quarterly]] |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=429–441 |year=1980 |doi=10.1111/j.1533-8525.1980.tb00623.x}}</ref><ref name="Moorstein">Moorstein, Mark. Frameworks, Conflict in Balance.</ref> marketing,<ref name="Jaworski_al.1993">{{citation |last1=Jaworski |first1=B |last2=Stathakopoulos |first2=V. |last3=Krishnan |first3=H. S. |year=1993 |title=Control Combinations in Marketing: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence |journal=[[Journal of Marketing]] |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=57–69 |doi=10.1177/002224299305700104|s2cid=167836808 }}</ref> applied science,<ref name="HobbsNorton2006">{{citation |last1=Hobbs |first1=R. |last2=Norton |first2=D. |year=2006 |title=Towards a Conceptual Framework for Restoration Ecology |work=Restoration Ecology |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=93–110}}</ref> art<ref name="Eco1978">{{citation |last=Eco |first=Umberto |author-link=Umberto Eco |year=1978 |title=A Theory of Semiotics |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |page=310 |isbn=978-0-2532-0217-8}} endnote #47</ref> etc.). The explicit definition of what a conceptual framework is and its application can therefore vary.

Conceptual frameworks are beneficial as organizing devices in empirical research. One set of scholars has applied the notion of a conceptual framework to [[deductive]], empirical research at the micro- or individual study level.<ref name=Shields>{{citation |last1=Shields |first=Patricia M. |author-link=Patricia M. Shields |last2=Tajalli |first2=Hassan |title=Intermediate Theory: The Missing Link in Successful Student Scholarship |journal=Journal of Public Affairs Education |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=313–334 |url=https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/3967 |year=2006 |doi=10.1080/15236803.2006.12001438|citeseerx=10.1.1.576.6985 |s2cid=141201197 }}</ref><ref name="Baum2003">{{citation |last=Baum |first=K. |year=2003 |chapter=Assessing Group Conflict: Understanding the Line-Staff Relationship in Fire Service |title=Handbook of Conflict Management |editor-first1=W. |editor-last1=Pammer |editor-first2=J. |editor-last2=Killian |location=New York |publisher=[[Marcel Dekker]] |pages=129–135}}</ref><ref name="ShieldsRangarajan2013">{{cite book |last1=Shields |first1=Patricia |author1-link=Patricia M. Shields |last2=Rangarajan |first2=Nandhini |title=A Playbook for Research Methods: Integrating Conceptual Frameworks and Project Management |location=[[Stillwater, Oklahoma|Stillwater, OK]] |publisher=New Forums Press |isbn=978-1-58107-247-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tVYbAgAAQBAJ |year=2013 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Shields1998">{{citation |last=Shields |first=Patricia |author-link=Patricia M. Shields |title=Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Science: A Tool for Public Administration |journal=Research in Public Administration|volume=4 |pages=195–225 |url=https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/3954 |year=1998}}</ref> They employ [[American football plays]] as a useful metaphor to clarify the meaning of ''conceptual framework'' (used in the context of a deductive empirical study).

Likewise, conceptual frameworks are abstract representations, connected to the research project's goal that direct the collection and analysis of data (on the plane of observation – the ground). Critically, a football play is a "plan of action" tied to a particular, timely, purpose, usually summarized as long or short yardage.<ref name="Patricia2014">{{citation |last=Shields |first=Patricia |author-link=Patricia M. Shields |year=2014 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263861162 |title=Tools for Excellent Papers: 2014 ASPA Student Summit |publisher=[[Texas State University]] |location=[[Washington D.C.]]}} Presentation at the [[American Society for Public Administration]] annual conference, Washington DC March 15, ThisPowerPointt depicts the connection between football and conceptual frameworks in the context of a large graduate student paper. The national presentation was delivered before Public Administration graduate students in Washington DC.</ref> Shields and Rangarajan (2013) argue that it is this tie to "purpose" that makes [[American football plays]] such a good metaphor. They define a conceptual framework as "the way ideas are organized to achieve a research project's purpose".<ref name="ShieldsRangarajan2013"/> Like football plays, conceptual frameworks are connected to a research purpose or aim. [[Explanation]]<ref name="Babbie2007">{{citation |last=Babbie |first=Earl |year=2007 |title=The Practice of Social Research |edition=11th |location=[[Belmont, California|Belmont, CA]] |page=89 |publisher=[[Thompson Media Group|Thompson]], [[Cengage|Wadsworth]]}} Babbie also identifies exploration and description as purposes of empirical research</ref> is the most common type of research purpose employed in empirical research. The formal [[hypothesis]] of a scientific investigation is the framework associated with [[explanation]]<!-- this is not a complete sentence. -->.<ref name="Brains_al2011">{{citation |last1=Brains |first1=C. |last2=Willnat |first2=L. |last3=Manheim |first3=J. |last4=Rich |first4=R. |year=2011 |title=Empirical Political Analysis: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods |location=[[New York City|New York, NY]] |publisher=[[Longman]] |pages=75–77}} Brains et al 2011 also identify exploration, explanation and description as research purposes. The explanation is connected to hypotheses testing (as a framework). The other research purposes are not connected to a framework.</ref>

Explanatory research usually focuses on "why" or "what caused" a phenomenon. Formal hypotheses posit possible explanations (answers to the why question) that are tested by collecting data and assessing the evidence (usually quantitative using statistical tests). For example, Kai Huang wanted to determine what factors contributed to residential fires in U.S. cities. Three factors were posited to influence residential fires. These factors (environment, population, and building characteristics) became the hypotheses or conceptual framework he used to achieve his purpose – explain factors that influenced home fires in [[United States|U.S.]] cities.<ref name="Huang2009">{{citation |last=Huang |first=Kai |title=Population and Building Factors that impact residential fire rates in Large U.S. Cities |journal=An Applied Research Project Submitted to the Department of Political Science, Texas State University-San Marcos, in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Public Administration, Spring 2009 |publisher=Applied Research Projects, [[Texas State University]] |page=42 |url=https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/3592 |year=2009}} The formal hypotheses took the form of relational statements. H1: environmental factors influence residential fire rates; H2: population characteristics influence residential fire rates; H3: Building factors influence residential fire rates. These hypotheses could be represented visually as H1: A → RFR; H2: B → RFR; H3: C → RFR where A = environmental factors; B = population characteristics; C = Building Factors and RFR = Residential Fire Rates.</ref>