Conceptual frameworks, models and theories, so how to structure the main components and their relations of your research. So, first of all, what do we need a conceptual model for and what is it about? One perspective on it, is to identify your dependent and independent variables.
I explain these concepts in a minute, but these are the main components in your research. The things you want to observe, the things you want to vary, the things you want to understand. So, and to develop ideas about.
. what do you think are the relationships between those variables and components of your research? So that helps you to focus and structure the main effects you expect, and how these components interrelate and interact and how probably users interact with those.
So additionally, it helps you to structure the questions around so-named confounding variables. So, things that have an influence. But actually, you probably would like to control them or you have to consider them that they could also be a source of your effect you want to observe.
So, what are dependent and independent variables anyway? So here you find a classical question as discussed before, we can start again with a simple description and definition by Wikipedia, which says dependent variables receive this name because in an experiment, their values are studied under the supposition or hypothesis that they depend by some law or rule or mathematical function on the values of other variables. So, they are dependent.
And your expectation is by varying the independent variables as a controller, as an experimententer, these variations will have an influence on the dependent variables. So as conclusion, independent variables in turn are not seen as depending on any other variable in the scope of the experiment in question. They are controlled by the experimenter.
So, let me give you a simple example. This is some study where we wanted to understand how people, when they learn to program. They learn a programming language and what is the influence of actually the programming environment?
You'll learn with a text-based programming language, you can learn a visual programming language. So, what is the impact on computational thinking? So, in the simple diagram, what you can see, first of all, there's an arrow from learning programming to computational thinking.
So, there's a relationship. So, we think that learning programming might help you to catch concepts of computational thinking, which are abstraction, decomposition of your objectives and so on. But we also assume that the type of learning environment you use might have a modifying effect on this.
So that you might learn different things depending on the environment or the programming language you work with. And you can extend that schema a little bit when you take in the role of the experimenter. So, in this case, you see basically the experimenter controls the procedure of how students learn programming in this case and can also control and vary the type of programming environment.
And this, of course, that your outcome, your dependent variable in that case, the computational thinking is measured by a test and the results, of course are the data collected by the experimenter. So certainly, the experimenter controls the independent variables. And the dependent variables are measured as an outcome.
So back to the conceptual models, because there are different terms with it, and I think a very important notion is, especially if you go more into human centered design, is the difference between a conceptual model and a mental model. So, for example, users develop a mental model when working with an instrument or tool. But the conceptual model might differ from this mental model.
In some user interfaces, this leads to a lot of problems because the designers’ conceptual model is not adaptable or not comparable to the mental model of the user. In the realm of research, I found this definition: In the realm of research, a conceptual framework is defined as a group of concepts and or constructs that are broadly defined and systematically organized to provide a focus, a rationale and a tool for the integration and interpretation of information and data. So, it's also an instrument for communication.
And in that sense, you can differ in the three terms also found here in understanding and evaluating research of a conceptual framework which basically collects the concepts and structures, it organizes them. But there are no prepositions out of it. In contrast, and in theory, you also have your core variables, concepts and constructs, but you also have a network of propositions and they are related and have typically assumptions affiliated to it.
And a model is often used also to report structure. Your research at the beginning reported at the outcome and of course you relate to your conceptual framework and to your theory. So, the main differences are in specifying relations, expectations, propositions and assumptions.
That also has to do with the role of data in your frameworks, so the role of data collection is important in the sense of that typically in an inductive approach, and you will learn more about that and the quantitative and qualitative other sections, is related to coming from data, from observations, identifying patterns, developing hypotheses and the theory. While more deductive approach comes from the theory, structures your conceptual model, and then you search for confirmation by data collection. So, when working about and with conceptual models, you also always have to think how to collect your data and how to actually operationalize your concepts that you are using in your model.
So, in summary: Clearly differentiate between the theories you're using and your research, conceptual framework you developed to structure your search and the model, probably to communicate this and help this to structure in collaboration with other researchers. Understand the concept of the dependent and independent variables you're using and also of confounding or modifying variables. And use your models to communicate your design and describe the interrelations between those components.
