RESEARCH IN

EDUCATION

Dr. Mohamad Sattar Bin Rasul

THEORIES, CONCEPTS AND VARIABLES

Research that is not theoretically informed, not

grounded in the existing body of knowledge, or of
the shotgun variety that fails to raise and
investigate conceptually grounded questions, is
likely to generate findings of a narrow and
ungeneralisable value.
(Yiannakis 1992, p.8)

CONSIDERING YOUR APPROACH

Think about:
1 your discipline
2 the field
3 the theory, e.g.
Discipline
Sociology

Field
Socialisation into sport

Theory
Donnelly and
Youngs (1988)
model of group
socialisation

Think about how theories may be applied:

Discipline
Psychology

Field
Crowd effects
on performance

Theory
Zajoncs (1965)
theory of
social facilitation

Application
Crowd effect on
hockey matches

DEVELOPING YOUR CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The conceptual framework describes and explains the
concepts to be used in the study, their relationships with
each other, and how they are to be measured.
Developing your conceptual framework requires five main
steps:
1. Identifying the relevant concepts.
2. Defining those concepts.
3. Operationalising the concepts.
4. Identifying any moderating or intervening variables.
5. Identifying the relationship between variables.

VARIABLES
Measuring a construct turns it into a variable.
Variable any construct that can take on different
values.
An INDEPENDENT variable influences a DEPENDENT
variable.
(IND VAR) (DEP VAR)
Social class affects attitudes.

Question

Independent Variable
(What I change)

Dependent Variables
(What I observe)

Does fertilizer
make a plant grow
bigger?

Amount of fertilizer measured

in grams

Growth of the plant

measured by its height
Growth of the plant
measured by the number of
leaves
See Measuring Plant Growth
for more ways to measure
plant growth

Perbezaan
pengurusan masa
belajar bedasarkan
etnik.

May also be a MODERATING variable:

Social class affects attitudes
past experience

(MOD VAR)

Fewer moderating variables = more confidence in

findings. Less chance of spurious (false, fake, unauth
entic) relationship.
What is the effect of the crowd upon performance?
Weather?
Referee?
Luck?
Opposition? etc.

Question

Independent
Variable (What
I change)

What is the
effect of the
crowd upon
performanc
e?

Apakah
kesan
latihan
disekolah
dengan
pencapaian
pelajar?

Dependent
Variables
(What I
observe)

Performance
goal
scored

Moderating Variables
(What past experience
affects what I observe)

Weather?
Referee?
Luck?
Opposition?

Pencapaian

May also be a INTERVENING variable:

Social class education attitudes
(IND VAR)
(INT VAR) (DEP VAR)
NO link between social class and attitudes.

Question

What is the
effect of social
class upon
students
attitudes?

Adakah faktor
pendekatan
PdP
mempengaruhi
pencapaian
pelajar?

Independent
Variable
(What I
change)

Type of cocurriculum

Dependent
Variables
(What I
observe)

Intervening Variables
(What intervention given
affects what I observe)

Attitudes Change

Pencapaian

 Independent variables answer the question "What do I

change?
Dependent variables answer the question "What do I
observe?
Controlled variables answer the question "What do I keep
the same?"
Extraneous variables answer the question "What
uninteresting variables might mediate the effect of the IV
on the DV

Question

Independent Variable
(What I change)

Dependent Variables
(What I observe)

Does fertilizer
make a plant grow
bigger?

Amount of fertilizer measured

in grams

Growth of the plant

measured by its height
Growth of the plant
measured by the number of
leaves
See Measuring Plant Growth
for more ways to measure
plant growth

Adakah kekerapan
latihan/jenis
mempengaruhi
pencapaian pelajar?

Question

Independent
Variable (What I
change)

Does
fertilizer
make a
plant grow
bigger?

Amount of
fertilizer measured
in grams

Dependent
Variables
(What I
observe)

Controlled Variables
(What I keep the same)

Growth of the
plant measured
by its height
Growth of the
plant measured
by the number of
leaves
See Measuring
Plant Growth for
more ways to
measure plant
growth

Same size pot for each plant

Same type of plant in each
pot
Same type and amount of
soil in each pot
Same amount of water and
light
Make measurements of
growth for each plant at the
same time
"The many variables above
can each change how fast a
plant grows, so to insure a fair
test of the fertilizer, each of
them must be kept the same
for every pot."

What is the Difference Between the

Theoretical and the Conceptual
Framework?
Many graduating college students and even graduate students have difficulty coming
up with the conceptual framework and the theoretical framework of their thesis, a
required section in thesis writing that serves as the students' map on their first
venture into research. The conceptual framework is almost always confused with the
theoretical framework of the study.
A conceptual framework is the researchers idea on how the research problem will
have to be explored. This is founded on the theoretical framework, which lies on a
much broader scale of resolution. The theoretical framework dwells on time tested
theories that embody the findings of numerous investigations on how phenomena
occur.
The theoretical framework provides a general representation of relationships between
things in a given phenomenon. The conceptual framework, on the other hand,
embodies the specific direction by which the research will have to be undertaken.
Statistically speaking, the conceptual framework describes the relationship
between specific variables identified in the study. It also outlines the input, process
and output of the whole investigation. The conceptual framework is also called the
research paradigm.

Thank you