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Did the report describe an explicit theoretical or conceptual framework for the study? If not, does the absence of a framework detract from the study’s conceptual integration?
Did the report adequately describe the major features of the theory or model so that readers could understand the conceptual basis of the study?
Is the theory or model appropriate for the research problem? Does the purported link between the problem and the framework seem contrived?
Was the theory or model used for generating hypotheses, or is it used as an organizational or interpretive framework? Do the hypotheses (if any) naturally flow from the framework?
Were concepts defined in a way that is consistent with the theory? If there was an intervention, were intervention components consistent with the theory?
Did the framework guide the study methods? For example, was the appropriate research tradition used if the study was qualitative? If quantitative, do the operational definitions correspond to the conceptual definitions?
Did the researcher tie the study findings back to the framework at the end of the report? Were the findings interpreted within the context of the framework?