Dr Jeff Jawitz is in charge of developing and running programmes that support academic staff in the development of their teaching through the Centre for Higher Education Development at the University of Cape Town. His research into academic staff development has focussed on the experience of new academics.Jennifer Case is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, with a special responsibility for academic development. She teaches in the undergraduate chemical engineering programme and her research on the students' experience of learning has been widely published.The authors observe that many research papers in engineering education do not explicitly state the theoretical perspective underpinning their work. In this article they argue for the value of theory in assisting researcher in communicating their research findings. Three theoretical perspectives that can be used to support one's research are described, namely; positivism, constructivism and critical inquiry, and in each case examples of research questions that best match the particular framework are given. Researchers are advised to be aware of the limitations of each perspective and to use the one that best assists them in understanding and solving the problems they wish to address.