Theory is very important in analyzing research approach, be it maybe qualitative, quantitative and/or mixed research methods. Without the application of theory, research quality maybe undercut. There is a long tradition within qualitative research of theory being central and of critical importance. Qualitative research theory often equates with the methodologies used, but this is a complex relationship, plagued by lack of consensus among scholars regarding how theory and methodology are related. There is an article Bradbury-Jones, Taylor, & Herber, (2014) that furthers the debates on how theories are used in qualitative research, how they might influence a study and how they are articulated in publications. The aim of the article was to provide a framework through which the relationship between theory and qualitative research can be understood. According to the research approach, Bradbury-Jones, et al. (2014) proposed a five-point typology on the levels of theoretical visibility, testing this against a range of published research from five key international health, medicine and social science journals. The typology captures a range of visibility–from seemingly absent-through to highly visible and applied throughout. There was a clear gradient in this assessment–only a minority appeared to use theory consistently throughout a study. The authors outlined several challenges to consistently applying theory in qualitative research and suggest potential solutions. This article is based on the argument that lack of theory in qualitative research undermines its quality. The typology is offered to assist researchers in applying theory in their own research and critiquing its use in the work of others. A literature reviews are one of the important aspects of research evaluation of information, found in related area of focus. Creswell (2009) identified in his book that the important of reviews is to summarize, evaluate, criticize, clarify, and understand the use of such literature. Secondly, it is vital since it gives a theoretical foundation for the research paper and to help the author finds the concept used for the research works. Experts in literature reviews framed research reviews as more than just the review of information, since it goes above the use of annotated bibliography—an organized list of relevant sources in the research that is followed by a brief annotation.
Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
