Constructing Your Dissertation
Connecting Theory to Research: empirical model
©1999 Edward G. Rozycki, Ed. D.
Evaluating Theories: a first approach
Evaluation & Theory Structure
What Makes a Variable Measurable?
Theory Evaluation Outline
Your literature search should provide you with knowledge and citations to support three things
1. the rationale for undertaking your researchThis sheet concerns itself with 3, the connections between the theory or theories that generate the hypotheses you are investigating. You should be able to fill in the following chart. (Examples are given.)
2. the background of previous research bearing on your topic
3. the theory generating your hypotheses.
|Organizational responsiveness to client need will conflict with organizational need for regularity, e.g. policy.||March & Simon, 1957.||Perceived lack of policy will correlate positively with perceived flexibility in dealing with clients.|| On a scale of 1 to 5, for highest agreement, indicate your own agreement with the following statements:
1. The staff needs more direction.
2. Adaptivity to client needs is a high priority.
|Perceived risk increases with personal involvement||Kahnemann & Tversky, 1982||Citizens with children in school will perceive school violence to be greater than those citizens who have no children in school.|| Prioritize the following school issues;
a. tax base
b. student achievement
d. sex education
What you want to avoid is the appearance of citing research merely as filler.
You should be able to connect through from theory to hypothesis to test item.