THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF A RESEARCH OR PROJECT - LITERATURE - 2025

The theoretical foundation of an investigation or project is an explanation based on ideas that are related to a particular topic. It is a critical review of the theoretical elements that serve as a frame of reference in an investigation.

This critical review makes it possible to determine which are the variables to be measured and what is the relationship between them, at the same time that the answer to the research question is determined.

When working on the preparation of an essay or any type of investigation, the theoretical foundations become a real challenge for students.

It is vitally important that the theoretical foundation is logical and clear, as it will guide the researcher from the beginning of the investigation to its conclusion. A bad approach to the theoretical foundations equates to poor research.

The construction of a good theoretical foundation requires an exhaustive review of the bibliography related to the subject, which will allow the design of the conceptual scheme by which whoever does the research work will be guided.

How to develop a theoretical foundation?

To develop a good theoretical foundation requires examining the topic and clearly defining the research problem. For this, the order in which the ideas, themes and sub-themes derived from the theoretical foundation will be placed must be established.

It is very important to be clear about the research problem, which you want to solve. Conducting in-depth research on existing data and information on the topic will allow you to have a number of important resources at your disposal.

The researcher must inquire about the interest that other authors have had in relation to the subject that he will develop, which will allow him to obtain varied opinions regarding his object of study.

Be sure to research the theories on the subject that have been used successfully by other researchers, and that can make sense of your ultimate goal.

Bear in mind that a good theoretical foundation will help you find answers to your research questions and therefore benefit your research, allowing you to do quality work.

Content of the theoretical foundation

Once the review of the bibliography related to the subject under study has been carried out, it is necessary to determine which contents are relevant and should be reflected in the theoretical foundation.

For this, the key contents must be selected, which will be related to the research questions. For example, if you want to investigate why customers of online company X do not return to make purchases frequently, what you should do is:

Establish the problem to be investigated. In this case, online customers do not buy products from company X on a regular basis. The objective of the research is to achieve the loyalty of customers so that they return to buy online.

The research question in this case would be: How can online company X improve customer satisfaction to increase loyalty to the company?

As can be seen, the concepts of customer satisfaction and loyalty to the company are important for your research and should be fully developed on the theoretical basis.

Establish relevant concepts, models and theories

The material to establish the relevant concepts comes from the review of the bibliography related to the research topic. From it, the necessary inputs are obtained to be able to develop concepts that will serve as a reference framework for your research work.

Following the previous example, it was established that the main concepts were customer satisfaction and loyalty to the company.

The next step is to review which theories are related to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty to a company.

The search for these concepts allows giving shape to the theoretical framework of the research, carrying out a critical analysis that allows accepting or rejecting existing theories and giving a new meaning to the study.

As can be seen, it is necessary to follow a logical structure in order to make sense of the theoretical foundation. The important thing is to provide an answer to the research questions, the hypotheses and to develop the key concepts.

Locate the theoretical foundation within the body of research

As already mentioned, to structure the theoretical foundation it is necessary to investigate in relation to studies carried out previously on the subject, to develop the key concepts and the theories that support the work that is carried out.

One way to organize all this information is as follows:

1. Mention previous research related to the topic that allows you to support yours. This is the background of the investigation. Generally these investigations should not be more than 5 years old with respect to the one being carried out.
2. Present the theories related to the research topic, which have been presented by various authors and explain how they relate to the current research.
3. Depending on the topic covered in the research, you can consider adding other elements that help to understand the problem under study.

It should not be forgotten that the proper development of the theoretical foundation is the key to having a successful investigation, since it not only helps to give support and logical meaning to the investigation, but also serves as a guide for other researchers to develop new studies.

It should always be borne in mind that the theoretical foundations are what helps to better understand the concepts and how they should be used in each case.

They originate when it comes to characterizing a particular situation, sometimes it seems that they are difficult to establish, but they help to build theory on the subject under study.

However, that theory can be judged as true or false. They are a proposal to understand new ideas, since they adequately explain the concepts in all their senses.

It should not be forgotten that if the theoretical foundation is built in an appropriate way, it will facilitate the adequate interpretation of the results obtained in the investigation, which will translate into a successful investigative work.

References

1. Reverso Dictionary. (sf). Theoretical foundations definition. Retrieved from dictionary.reverso.net.
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4. Reference (2017). What is theoretical framework? Retrieved from reference.com.
5. Magher, M. (2017). Strategies for How to Overcome the Challenges of Writing a Paper. Retrieved from education.seattlepi.com.
6. Cline, A. (2017). Theoretical Definitions Constructing a 'Theory' About the Nature of a Concept. Retrieved fromatheism.about.com.