Let me try to explain the differences between the terms you are enquiring about. These terms are related but are not done sequentially as explained below. You will have to keep on going forward and backwards perfecting each area in the process.
Literature Review
After coming up with a topic you need to do some literature review to see what others have done in the area you want to research. If youdon't find any literature then chances are the topic is not that important and you will have a tough time to convince your supervisor and examiners.
As you do the literature reviews look for concepts used. The most prevalent concepts tell you the issues you must address in the topic you have chosen. Remember that your reviewers would be persons who know a lot about the topic you are researching on. Show them you also know the area. Read a lot.
TheoreticalFramework
Every researcher, including yourself has got some beliefs about the phenomenon you are trying to research. Let's take a topic such as: The Disparity of Starting Salaries forFirst Degree Graduates in Business. When you are faced with such a topic you will have to first do a literature review to see what others have written in the same or related topics. Look for the terms used such as demand and supply, subject area, etc. and master them. Look also for theories used by the authors to construct their papers. If you are reading a qualitative paper, especially one which is interpretive you cannot miss the theory used by the author.
I can say a theory is a belief. What does the theory do? In the most simplistic explanation I can say it exposes the author's beliefs about the issue she or he is writing about. For example, based on the topic hinted above one author may think that the issue should simply be investigated in terms of Laws of Demand and Supply. Another author may investigate the same issue in terms of Globalisation. Yet another author may think the whole issue boils around Chronism (Ukabila, undugu, udini,ukanda, etc.). So each will write according to their beliefs.
I said it is simplistic because save for Laws of Demand and Supply and Possibly Globalisation, Chronismmay not be a theory at all. Authors use theories which are already known andestablished. If you are in social sciences you might have heard theories such as Structuration, Theory of Planned Behavior, Actor Network Theory, etc.
So what is important after you have read all the papers, noting the major terms or concepts used , and the theories used (if any) you may like to differ with them and look at the issue using your own theory such as Feminism. At that point your argument will be that the disparities in remuneration are not caused by Laws of Demand and Supply or by Globalisation or by Chronism but by Gender related issues. You will have to look for an appropriate Gender theory which can help you in your research as there are many.
After deciding on the appropriate theory that you will use in your research you will have to tell your readers what you know about the theory. You must read a lot about the theory so that it becomes very clear to you. You will then have to clearly explain the concepts used in that theory and how they relate to the problem you are studying. Your write-up will be called the Theoretical Framework.
After finishing the Theoretical Framework some researchers go back to the research topic and try to change it to reflect the theory being used such as: A Feminist Enquiry Into the Disparity of Starting Salaries for First Degree Graduates in Business, or How Globalization Affects The Disparity of Starting Salaries for First DegreeGraduates in Business, etc.
Conceptual Framework
Based on your literature review where you would have taken some general concepts about the subject area you want to study and the theoretical framework where you would have also taken some key concepts about the theory you are going to use you can prepare a Conceptual Framework. Many writers use diagrams to explain the relationship between the concepts which will be investigated in the study. Google and you will find a lot of them. The Conceptual framework is like scaffolding which you use to a guide and to limit yourself as to what you want to do. Rather than starting a conceptual framework from scratch some authors borrow other researcher's conceptual frameworks and modify them to suit their needs.
Hypotheses
Formulation and testing of hypotheses applies only to quantitative studies. Hypotheses should come from you research questions, research objectives and the conceptual framework. Actually all your hypotheses can be shown in a conceptual framework diagram i.e. showing how the various nodes in your diagram correlate with each other.
Note: Not all authors address the areas I have talked about above. You will have to ask your supervisor if you really need separate sections for theoretical and conceptual frameworks. Some can merge both of them into the literature review and simply come up with a separate section for hypotheses.
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