I’d like to write a PhD research proposal. I have a clear plan for a mixed methods study, but do not yet have a clear theoretical framework guiding it. Would it be wise to focus in on the theory first before proposing a study?
Edit: This is for the social sciences (education).
Thank you for the advice, Bharath. I thought the theory would come into play at two points in my research, the first of which would hopefully emerge from the literature review, and the second would emerge from the findings of the first phase of results. I’m wondering how this might look on a research proposal, though.
Theory is a lens that enables you to make sense of the rest of the research process and informs your choices and decisions. Sadly we see a lot of researchers embarking on research projects without a theoretical lens and they then try to squeeze it in later (or forget to reflect on this altogether). Sound research designs take the time to reflect on their theoretical perspective immediately and definitely before embarking on methodological choices. Even if your theoretical perspective is implicit (as is the case for a lot of positivist research), it needs to be stated and does require reflection at the onset. The only exception would be when the researcher is asserting there is no theory available and they will follow a grounded process - even then this requires a theoretical analysis early on that examines the theoretical landscape and evidences nothing is available.
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