Hi,

I feel like i am missing something obvious with my theory but i just can't get to grips with it, maybe because i've been a practitioner in my field for a number of years. Apparently i need to focus on strengthening the theory but for me that's the whole point of the study because nothing quite fits.

My research covers a few domains: social value, community development, networks...

These all have theories relating to the different aspects such as actor network theory, economic theories, systems theories, development theories, social capital theories.

I've been told i should draw predominantly from one and show how my work is looking at this, but then how would you chose which is most appropriate if none of them cover all domains?

I've looked at a few past PhD examples but they only confused the matter further, some appear to lack theory even a reference to grounded theory, others simply refer to literature and studies with no theoretical foundations

Any advice would be appreciated!

My topic is the same - I draw theoretical background from many different areas which all contribute to (my somewhat underdeveloped) field. All I can say is read read read - it will all come together in the end, but only once you have a firm grasp of all the issues involved and how they contribute to each other...