Framework

Research

A structure, often a diagram, mapping the concepts and relationships a study examines and the assumptions behind it.

Sources

1. Merriam-Webster — framework merriam-webster.com accessed 23 September 2026

Merriam-Webster: “a basic conceptional structure (as of ideas)”, alongside the literal “a skeletal, openwork, or structural frame”. First recorded 1578 — the physical sense first, the conceptual one borrowed from it. The metaphor is worth keeping honest in research writing: a framework is structure, not content. It holds an argument up; it is not the argument.

Merriam-Webster is cited as the dictionary of record: where an entry defines a word rather than a position, a dictionary is the primary source for it. The research usage above is this lexicon’s own.

Related terms

• Abbreviation
• Abstract
• Abstraction
• Academic Database
• Analysis
• Annotation

Also defined as

An organised set of concepts or principles used to analyse a topic; must be applied throughout an analysis, not merely named in the introduction.

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).