Theoretical Frameworks

How do I identify an appropriate theoretical framework for my problem of practice?

If you need help choosing a theory, the Handbook of Educational Theories is a great place to start. 

This handbook has sections on broad areas of theory, with more specific theoretical frameworks listed within each section. You can use this handbook to select an appropriate theory for the problem of practice you have chosen.

Once you have selected a theory, the Handbook can be a helpful resource for leading you to more information about that theory because it highlights many of the major authors associated with the theory. 

The reference list in each chapter can be useful for tracking down additional sources about the theory. 

 

How do I find critiques of my theoretical framework?

One way to search for critiques of a particular theory or framework is to search for one or more of the seminal works of the theory in Google Scholar. Below the search result, you should see Cited by and a number. Clicking on that link will bring up sources that have cited the seminal work, including critiques of it. You may be able to quickly browse through the results to find critiques, but if there are hundreds or thousands of citations you can use the search box at the top of the page to search for (critique or criticism or challenge) and check the box next to "search within citing articles" to try to filter to just the critiques of the theory.

Another option would be to search within Scholar OneSearch for books related to the theory, which will often provide both an overview and challenges or critiques. 

Once you have an idea of some of the challenges to the theory, you could do a separate library search for the specific challenge and the name of the theory. Many of the library databases retrieve better results if you can include a more descriptive term, rather than the broader term of challenge or critique.