The Distinctions Between Theory, Theoretical Framework, and Conceptual Framework

Bibliographic Data

ID23338681
AuthorsLara Varpio (0000-0002-1412-4341, L. Varpiois professor and associate director of research, Graduate Programs in Health Professions Education in the Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland; ORCID:., corresponding author), Elise Paradis (0000-0001-9103-4721, E. Paradisis assistant professor, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, scientist, Wilson Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and researcher, Facebook, Menlo Park, California; ORCID:.), Sebastian Uijtdehaage (0000-0001-8598-4683, S. Uijtdehaageis professor and associate director, Graduate Programs in Health Professions Education, Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland; ORCID:.), Meredith Young (0000-0002-2036-2119, M. Youngis associate professor, Institute of Health Sciences Education, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; ORCID:.)
Year2020
Volume95
Issue7
Pages989-994
Publication date2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAcademic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1040-2446 • E-ISSN: 1938-808X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/acm.0000000000003075
PMID31725464
OpenAlexW2983904256
LanguageEN
Citations received112
References cited17

Health professions education (HPE) researchers are regularly asked to articulate their use of theory, theoretical frameworks, and conceptual frameworks in their research. However, all too often, these words are used interchangeably or without a clear understanding of the differences between these concepts. Further problematizing this situation is the fact that theory , theoretical framework , and conceptual framework are terms that are used in different ways in different research approaches. In this article, the authors set out to clarify the meaning of these terms and to describe how they are used in 2 approaches to research commonly used in HPE: the objectivist deductive approach (from theory to data) and the subjectivist inductive approach (from data to theory). In addition to this, given that within subjectivist inductive research theory , theoretical framework , and conceptual framework can be used in different ways, they describe 3 uses that HPE researchers frequently rely on: fully inductive theory development , fully theory-informed inductive , and theory-informing inductive data analysis.

Conceptual framework · Epistemology · Inductive reasoning · Management science · Meaning (existential) · Objectivism · Set (abstract data type) · Subjectivism · The Conceptual Framework · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Health Sciences Research and Education · Innovations in Medical Education · Philosophy · Primary Care and Health Outcomes