Exploring the conceptual framework that helps direct and ground researchers, this is a practical book that presents conceptual frameworks as a mechanism - process and product.  The authors discuss a conceptual framework as both a guide and a ballast for empirical research with specific questions and strategies for exploring what is already known about a given topic or question.   In the second edition two new chapters have been added; chapter 3 focuses on how conceptual frameworks are conceptualized and developed, profiling Angela Duckworth's seminal work on grit.  The chapter addresses the question on the minds of graduate students preparing for the dissertation process:  how do I get started?  A second published work (along with Margaret Beale Spencer's featured in chapter 7) that utilizes quantitative methods and brings the book into greater balance in terms of methodological focus.

Chapter 8 is the second new chapter and provides a student's perspective on the role of conceptual frameworks in the research process from beginning to end.   Many more visuals have been included which assist in illustrating key ideas and relationships providing a clear roadmap for the reader, combined with a thorough updating of the relevant research.