The Good, the Popular and the Bad: Different Shades of ‘Theory’ Use in Educational Research

Abstract

‘Theory’ may refer to a system of ideas, principles or frameworks which are overarching, and serve as an anchor to understand and generalise about particular instances and experiences. It also provides conceptual and analytical frameworks which govern the ways in which questions are asked, the research methodologies and methods we choose, as well as writing practices. While the ‘doing of research’ often takes precedence over foregrounding our theoretical underpinnings, it is meaningful to understand where our ideas come from, whether current or past, and how these considerations contribute to what we deem ‘research worthy’. Often researchers explicitly refer to theory in the form of a conceptual framework at the time of devising research questions. However, it is also instructive to think about the whole process of research inquiry as necessarily involving theory of some kind. Assumptions in the research process are implicit. They draw from the canons of disciplines—their preferred methods, conventions and writing styles. As novice researchers, enculturated into these ways of thinking, it is difficult to shift the frame to other ways of thinking, doing and writing. Often the doing of research takes precedence over examining our philosophical leanings. Dominant