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I’ve been pondering this thread for a few days, as well as talking with various doctoral students who have become increasingly confused and frustrated with this thread because of the multiple definitions (maybe) of theory or theoretical framework. So, define theory. Define theoretical framework. Define the steps for theory creation. Provide a link to the document from your institution that states a dissertation must include a theoretical framework—as defined and agreed upon by all your faculty. I don’t think I have ever seen such a thing. As such, I would never make an assumption about one institution’s supposed requirement, or lack thereof, based on the one student’s response. I had the great and terrifying honor of taking Elfreda Chatman’s “Theory Development” course at FSU in the Fall of 1998. She began by stating that most of what is called ‘theory’ is in fact not a theory. We learned the structure of a theory, we built our own theories (my favorite was the one Laurie Bonnici and I created called “the theory of bubbas and bubbettes”), we studied “theorists” and their theories---where she again emphasized that some were not theories but perhaps just incomplete models or hypothesis. We discussed logic, proving theories, grounding theories, what makes a theory a universal theory, and how we might use theory in our own work. (My good friend Laurie described very aptly how a person feels after taking Elfreda’s class---as if someone opened up your brain, scrabbled it with an egg beater, and then put the top back on. ) We can discuss theoretical concepts that apply to a study in the literature review—is this what we commonly call creating a theoretical framework? Does any program require all their students to write a separate chapter just for theory? Can some dissertations essentially be grounded theory--the beginning of a new theory? ( I do, but some of my colleagues disagree with me on that one. Makes for interesting debates.) Can we take a part of a theory—one concept, for example—and base a study on it? Is that creating a theoretical framework? I’m teaching my first doctoral course this semester and I quickly realized I needed to dust off some of my old understandings of theories, models, etc. I started re-reading books and collecting new books on theory construction, grounded theory, methodologies. They don’t seem to have very many common definitions. One work that I have found helpful is "Theory Construction and Model-building Skills: a practical guide for social scientists" by James Jaccard and Jacob Jacoby (2010). Here is the first paragraph of the Preface: "Theory construction is at the heart of the scientific process. The strategies that social scientists use to generate and develop ideas are important to understand and foster in young academics and investigators as they prepare for a research-oriented career. Although books have been written about theory construction, there are surprisingly few books on the topic that tackle the problem of teaching students and young professionals in a practical and concrete way, how to theorize. Students, especially graduate students, take one or more courses on research methods and data analysis, but few experience more than a lecture or two, read a chapter or two, on theory construction. It is no wonder that students are often intimidated by the prospect of constructing theories." (p. ix) This describes exactly a part of working with doctoral students that is the most challenging. I think most students do employ theoretical frameworks based on their deep immersion in the literature that gives contexts for their studies---they just may not realize it. Or perhaps they realize the framework they need doesn’t yet exist. I’ve certainly read many articles—and have assigned my students to read them—that are full of lofty, deep, profound, and abstract thoughts and ideas, but that are no where near being a theory. At least, not as far as I have been taught. S.Miksa ************************************************************ Shawne D. Miksa, Ph.D. Associate Professor Acting Associate Director, IISPhD Program Department of Library and Information Sciences College of Information University of North Texas email: [log in to unmask] http://courses.unt.edu/smiksa/index.htm office 940-565-3560 fax 940-565-3101 ************************************************************