Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework is the established body of theory your study is built on — the lens through which you interpret your problem. Examples include the Technology Acceptance Model, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Resource-Based View or Social Exchange Theory.

It differs from a conceptual framework, which is the specific model of constructs and hypothesised paths you will test. The theoretical framework explains why relationships should exist and connects your study to an existing scholarly conversation; the conceptual framework operationalises that reasoning into testable form.

Choose a theory that genuinely fits your problem rather than attaching a fashionable one after the fact. Explain its core propositions, why it suits your context, and how your study extends, tests or challenges it. Examiners routinely probe this: a thesis without a defensible theoretical grounding reads as description rather than research.