Constructing a Conceptual Framework for Quantitative Data Analysis in Social Science Research

Abstract

The article proposes how to construct a conceptual framework in social science research using the quantitative paradigm. The purpose of the paper is to provide a guideline for drawing a conceptual framework to students writing proposals based on scientific justification for data analysis. The paper explains how constructs are interlinked to develop a conceptual framework. The article argues that a conceptual framework is not a fixed network of variables but possesses ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions and each concept within a conceptual framework plays an ontological or epistemological role. The ontological assumptions explain how knowledge is or what knowledge is, the epistemological assumptions relate to how things really are done and how things certainly work in an assumed reality, and the methodological assumptions relate to the process of building the conceptual framework and assessing what it can tell us about the real world. Therefore, the conceptual frame shows how variables are interlinked, how analysis will be carried out and how the subsequent model will look like.  In conclusion, the conceptual framework is not a form of fixed diagram but portrays the kind of analysis that will be or has been carried out in a study.