WHY STUDENTS MISTAKE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO CONCEPTUAL LITERATURE

WHY STUDENTS MISTAKE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR CONCEPTUAL LITERATURE

 

Chapter two of all research work is usually very lengthy and most detailed. Chapter two is the next chapter after chapter one of the project. Chapter two of the complete project work is supposed to be divided into five sections:

1. the conceptual frame
2. the conceptual literature
3. the theoretical literature
4. the empirical literature
5. Summary/gap of the literature

However, most students tend to use conceptual frameworks in place of conceptual literature. This has been happening for years. Most supervisors tend to be accepting their project with this mistake for some reason I do not know. Although every supervisor has the right to defend the way he/she wants his/her project work to be presented. However, I think is better for all students to have a clear understanding of the difference between conceptual framework and conceptual literature.

Chapter two of a project is one of the most important parts of the project because the writer of the research work will be able from an empirical review from chapter two to back up the discussion of findings in chapter five of the research work.

Why Do Students Mistake Conceptual Literature For Conceptual Framework

Students mistake the conceptual framework for conceptual literature because they both contain a list of dependent and independent variables. They both try to relate one variable to another. The conceptual framework and the conceptual literature also try to apply the most suitable theories to the dependent and independent variables.

How To Get It Right With Conceptual Framework And Conceptual Literature

The best way to get it right with the difference between conceptual framework and conceptual literature is to understand that the conceptual framework is a diagrammatic expression of the conceptual literature. In other words, the conceptual framework is the conceptual literature in a diagram form. Everything discussed in the conceptual literature is arranged in the form of a diagram. Any how to choose your diagram is fine. You can use squares, rectangles, or circles to present your conceptual framework.

If we decide to illustrate with the project topic “the effect of guidance and counseling service on the academic performance of students”; if you look at the topic you will observe that the major variables are “guidance and counseling” and “academic performance”. We will treat the concept of these variables separately and then relate them. Let us perform the conceptual framework and conceptual literature experiment on these variables. Let us take for instance that all the conceptual literature for the above topics are:

1. concept of guidance and counseling
2. the need for guidance and counseling
3. The factors affecting guidance and counseling
4. academic performance
5. the effect of guidance and counseling on the academic performance

All we have done above is the conceptual literature for the effect of guidance and counseling services on the academic performance of students. The conceptual framework will now be a kind of diagram showing how these variables relate to each other.

WHY STUDENTS MISTAKE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR CONCEPTUAL LITERATURE

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