THE VALUE OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW TOWARDS A QUALITY RESEARCH WORK

Abstract

The theoretical framework and literature review are crucial aspects of research process, yet it is usually misunderstood by researchers as they prepare their research reports. This study accentuated the importance of theory-driven procedures concerning the selection of a topic, the development of research questions, the conceptualization of the literature review, the planning approach, and the analysis plan for research. This study used an integrative approach and different methodologies were combined to review the literature and summarise it for a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomena. The review of the literature revealed that trying to make use of theory while developing a theoretical framework under time pressure may appear to be a rather agonizing experience. As such, the challenging journey of creating sense of theory and developing a theoretical framework within a decent timeframe might be considered the rigour in research study. A researcher would be able to better empathize with the struggles and potential frustrations of researches with a full grasp of a theoretical framework that matches his/her research works through the review of the literature. The study gained insights into the previous study through the review of the literature and made useful suggestions on the benefits of theoretical framework and literature review that will allow scholar researches to make sense and enable them come out with quality works.