Table 2.

Examples of papers using theory from BMC Medical Education

Paper	Theory	Paradigm	Methodology	Unit of analysis	Timing of theory use	Write up of theory
Horsburgh, Ippolito [10]	Bandura’s theory of social learning	Interpretive	Qualitative methodology; interviews	Micro level (individual)—how learners and teachers perceive and make sense of learning from role modelling in clinical settings	Theory used to inform data analysis	Theory outlined in the Background, Methods, and Discussion
Held et al. [11]	Social network theory	Not explicity stated, but research approach is consistent with the positivist paradigm	Quantitative metodology; survey	Micro level (group processes)—student learning networks in a rural community based placement	Theory used to inform instrument development and data analysis	Theory outlined in the Background, Methods, and Discussion
O’Keefe et al. [12]	Activity theory	Not explicitly stated, but the research approach is consistent with the constructivist paradigm	Action research; interviews, focus groups and direct observation	Meso level -management of student clinical placements across three health service sites	Theory used in the data analysis	Theory outlined in the Background, Methods (specifically data analysis), and in the Discussion
Ji et al. [13]	Social netwrok theory; complex systems theory	Not explicity declared but consistent with the positivist paradigm	Quantitative metodology; analysis of publications data	Macro level—research topics and trends in medical education	Theory used in the data analysis	Theory outlined in the Background, Methods (specifically data analysis), and in the Discussion