College of Nursing - Dissertation Guide

30 Theoretical Framework This information comes from a resource that probably was written by the theorist. Give the historical development of the framework including the discipline from which it was derived. Thoroughly describe the framework and explain its application to the present study. Include in what context the theory has previously been used to study other phenomena. Provide an overview that includes the constructs and their proposed relationships. Designate which constructs are considered to be antecedents and which are considered to be outcomes. Include a schema that depicts the constructs and their relationships as Figure 1. This will be useful when considering your hypotheses. Theoretical Assumptions The theoretical assumptions come directly from the theory and are typically included in your resources that explain the theory. Definition of Terms Only include those constructs that the student will actually measure. Information that defines the population of interest will be included in chapter 3. The Construct Theoretical definition. The theoretical definition comes from the theoretical framework. Operational definition . The operational definition explains how this construct will be measured. The operational definitions include all measures you use to collect data on your study variables. This includes, subjects/participants, independent variables, and dependent variables. The definition includes the range of possible scores and what high and low scores indicate for your independent and dependent variables. Don’t provide information beyond this because the student will provide complete information in chapter 3. Chapter Summary