Formulating and Evaluating Theoretical Frameworks for Career and Technical Education Research

Increasingly, reviewers for research journals and other venues for reporting research are demanding clearly articulated theoretical frameworks in manuscripts under consideration for publication or presentation. Yet, if one examines the articles published in the major journals in our field and attends the research sessions at the annual AVERA [American Vocational Education Research Association] meetings, one must conclude that there is a general lack of agreement on what is meant by theoretical framework. The author examines the theoretical literature on the relationship between theory and research from the perspective of the researcher. He presents succinct examples from the career and technical education literature of theoretical frameworks at the level of grand theory, middle range theory, and substantive theory. He argues that an adequate theoretical framework for a research study can be built at any of those three levels. He contends that writers who present conceptual frameworks for their studies are actually referring to theoretical frameworks at the level of substantive theory and argues against using the term 'conceptual framework' in that context. This article is based on the author's Presidential Address at the AVERA Annual Meeting in December 2000.