Qualitative research can produce detailed information from where one can identify a number themes and patterns. A conceptual framework is then developed by summarizing the mental image of the themes and patterns that are emerging from the data. For guidance on how to develop conceptual frameworks from qualitative data or quantitative ,please go through the article attached.

Dear Mr Pasand Assalamualikum...I suggest u read some of articles to develop ur conceptual framework. As it directly related to ur problem statements, introduction and objectives. i gave u some article link below pls gone through that:

www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm.../48274_ch_3.pdf

https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/IJQM/article/viewFile/6118/5892

www.slideshare.net/wtidwell/writing-a-conceptual-framework

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrbL508aG4k

Pasand - the answer to your question depends on the context of your qualitative study. In most cases, the conceptual (more likely called theoretical/philosophical) framework precedes or accompanies the chosen methodology and informs the research method/design - long before the data is collected and analysed. One of the few exceptions to this might be Grounded Theory - whereby the emerging theory may become the conceptual framework fro further studies. 

The attached chapter here may elaborate a little more.

One of the paradoxes (a productive one) of grounded theory is that you refrain from conceptualization because the developing of concepts is precisely your focus. This dilemma (which is in the very core of Strauss & Glaser’s Discovery book) at a first stage generates kind of a theoretical chaos which you have to cross in order to find your own thinking.  Having no concepts, which consists in the very negation of a theoretical framework, is in a way a theoretical framework ex negativo. The important epistemological notion then becomes theoretical sensitivity. You develop it along your professional and intellectual career, at it will be activated in the dialogue with your data. Your inquiry always has a double direction: first you look at the data, you listen to other people’s interpretations and compare them, secondly you explore your own theoretical sensitivity, in that way you construct your own theory. The basic feature of grounded theory is that you work without preconcepts, you do not do any theoretical work in advance, at the moment you are confronted with the data, you just let the theoretical clarification happen. This sophisticated structure results from the fact that you presuppose that you do not pretend to hold a paramount position looking from above at your respondents, a researcher is not God’s eye, there is no hierarchy between him and the respondents, she/he is a social actor among others and she/he admits that her/his own thinking, is embedded in historical and social contexts. This makes the conceptual work inductive and corresponds to the hermeneutic character of social research.

How to develop conceptual framework for a qualitative research study?

Qualitative research's conceptual framework can be developed based on your research problem, objective & question(s).  The goal of the conceptual framework is to illustrate your research approach in some pictorial & text forms to ease readers' understanding of your research approach.

Is it the same process of developing conceptual framework in quantitative studies where we link variables through putting arrows?

Depending on your research context, we can draw diagrams with bubbles / boxes / icons etc. to represent certain constructs and some lines / dotted lines etc. to connect them for illustration / understanding purpose & not arrow-lines to show causal relationship which might imply a causal / correlational quantitative research.

Can we develop conceptual framework in qualitative research before data collection/ fieldwork?

We can do that.  Sometime, the initial conceptual framework can be re-drawn / further enhanced into final diagram(s) to illustrate the final qualitative results for readers' better understanding.  Those icons / constructs displayed in the final diagram(s) are mainly the key themes / patterns the researcher had discovered from the qualitative research.

As Dean Whitehead notes, there are different approaches to qualitative research, and some of them such as Grounded Theory completely reject the idea of having a prior conceptual framework. This is sometimes summarized as the difference between a more deductive approach, which begins within an existing theory, such as a conceptual framework, versus a more inductive approach, which relies on what you learn from your observations.

In general, the more exploratory your research is, the less likely you are to rely on a pre-existing conceptual framework.

Han and David are right. My answer has a too narrow focus on grounded theory. Dean's mentioning of grounded theory had a trigger effect on me. What I said refers only to an extreme part of the spectrum.

Dear Pasand

It depends on your qualitative strategy. If you're using content analysis and proceed deductively, ie qualitative data classified into categories, which you shall impose, you must have a complete theoretical framework. On the other hand if you are going to proceed deductively (in the style of grounded theory), the theoretical framework could be developed in parallel to the analysis of data, and categories will "emerging" from the data.

Thank you all for your valuable answers. Dear Morgan and Jorge, can we use deductive approach in qualitative research? if yes, how? 

regards.

One way to use a deductive approach in qualitative research would be to develop a codebook based on prior theory, and then search for patterns predicted by that prior theory.

Hi Passand Ali,

The following article could be interresting for your reflexion :

Sitwala Imenda, "Is There a Conceptual Difference between Theoretical

and Conceptual Frameworks?" (article below)

You can also have a look on these books :

Corvellec, Hervé, ed. (2013) What is Theory?: Answers from the Social and Cultural Sciences. Stockholm: Copenhagen Business School Press.

Trochim, William M.K. (2006) Philosophy of Research. Research Methods Knowledge Base;

Jarvis, Peter. (1999) The Practitioner-Researcher. Developing Theory from Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hope it could help you,

Sicerelly,

Christophe Gibout

First identify ur underlying theory, then search for the patterns or themes suggested by ur theory 

A conceptual framework is then developed by summarizing the mental image of the themes and patterns that are emerging from the data. First you look at the data, you listen to other people’s interpretations and compare them secondly you explore your own theoretical sensitivity, in that way you construct your own theory. 

Pasand, 

is a very good question, 

difficult to bring a short answer because there is an important discussion in this issue in qualitative research,

not only about have concepts or categories of analysis before starting the collaboration with participants

but questioning qualitative research as necessarily interpretative.

(for example Elizabeth Adams St Pierre)

*

the question could be why in your research interest are you thinking in have concepts or a conceptual framework?

An excellent help is provided by colleagues especially, Mr. Harshvardhan Singh. 

https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/conceptual-framework/

am exploring failures in business internationalisation using a multiple case study approach ( two cases of global retailers that failed in Asian markets). Am using secondary data only. Any suggestions on how I can develop a conceptual framework and also how to do data analysis. Your suggestions will be highly appreciated

Reason Chivaka

check this link

http://simplyeducate.me/2015/01/05/conceptual-framework-guide/

Aunque hay diversos criterios en cuanto a la respuesta de tu pregunta, hay coincidencia en que un marco teórico-referencial debe explicitar los fundamentos teóricos y metodológicos sistematizados de la bibliografía y el objeto de estudio, así como los fundamentos prácticos que corroboran la existencia de una situación problémica.

Hello everyone, thanks for your tips and links. It still seems to me that conceptual frameworks are mainly useful and common in quantitative research, i.e. when certain assumptions based on theory shall be empirically tested. Do you know examples of conceptual papers that theoretically substantiate qualitative work (i.e. when theory is to be generated)? To what extent does this make sense or is it different from conceptual papers for quantitative research at all? Thank you very much in advance for your opinions!

In quantitative research when the model is constructed and that shows arrows to show relationship,in qualitative research we actually build that model from past review of literature or Personal interview or expert interviews.Even when you do propose a new model ,the same has to be published to be listed as a final change in the present theory.For example Belk has done a qualitative research thru PI and seen that consumesr can jsutify their guilt for not buying sustainable products in three ways,individualism,rationaism and government dependence.Now this model made thru qualitative research by Belk can be validated in India by a quantitaive research.

I have a problem of developing a conceptual framework combining two theatoris.

Qualitative primary data collection could be undertaken with semi-structured and focus groups followed using topics identified from the literature review and Initial conceptual model. But be careful not to get bias.

The researcher should not allow influencing the initial conceptual model in conceptual perception of the results of qualitative data. that's why most of researchers avoid to use conceptual model before qualitative study.

Can we consider putting conceptual framework instead of theoritcal lens in a phenomenological approach of qualitative research?

Why is a Conceptual Framework created after having the Findings?