Conceptual frameworks are conjectural/hypothetical research tools that are particularly important and widely used in the disciplined inquiry, including educational (technology) research. However, there is a lack of guidance on how to construct them. Hence, the objective of the current research was to provide a methodological perspective through a case study on how to develop such a framework for deductive research with a complex research subject. To this end, a five-step technique was constructed and implemented: text database, research panorama, authors’ network and thread, location, and definition. The case of Pygmalion effect was actual and significant as a recent meta-analysis found it to have an outstanding impact, among other leadership interventions, and relevant to educational research as it was first experimented in educational context. The conclusion found the five steps to be intertwined as they were built upon each other, carried the thread forward and opened it up deeper and closer to the research subject by each section. The errors and limitations involved uniqueness, availability, less is more, meaningfulness, approach, and space. Hence, the recommendations were defined as the regard for the complexity of the research subject and the approach to which the defined steps were delegated, the preliminary search on the most up-to-date academic papers on the subject, the only necessary number of collected sources and classes, the sense-making in implementing the steps, and the adaptation to longer essays, theses, or to prepare the foundation of research proposals.
The research method of conceptual frameworks. The case of Pygmalion effect: A leadership style or self-fulfilling prophecy?