Exploring Selected Theories Applicable to Educational Disciplines and Social Sciences Research

There is a convergence of opinion among various writers, that research is a process of discovering new knowledge and building theory to advance a set of conceptual ideas (Nebeker etal., 2015). In the educational realm, research is widely recognized as playing a critical role in discovering knowledge, testing hypotheses and uncovering new relationships, associations or causal imperatives about various aspects of education. This includes student learning, teaching and assessment methods, teacher training, and classroom dynamics. Social science research answers several questions about human interactions and behaviour. In both education and social sciences, research has relied on the use of theories not only to help explain, predict, and understand phenomena but also to challenge and extend existing knowledge within the limits of critical bounding assumptions (Labaree, 2009). Stewart and Klein (2015) posit that all researchers should consider the theoretical basis for their studies very early in the planning stage. When a researcher understands the employability of a theory in research, they realise that their research processes would profoundly be improved in applicability, generalisability, credibility, validity, precision and reliability. Theories are generally defined as statements about how things are connected. They help researchers to recast their thinking. Glanz, Rimer, and Viswanath (2008) assert that a theory is a set of claims about interrelatedness of concepts, definitions, and propositions that explain or predict events. Bhattacherjee (2012: 14) describes a theory as "a set of systematically interrelated constructs and propositions intended to explain and predict a phenomenon or behaviour of interest, within certain boundary conditions and assumptions." Theories are, thus, applied in research and teaching to help in illuminating concepts, facts, and ideologies that are encountered in everyday life world of a researcher. Their purpose is to explain why things happen as they do around people.