Theory-to-research-to-theory strategy: A research-based expansion of radical change theory

Theory use and development in research are significant to all disciplines. Scholarly literature serves as a venue to share the diverse and detailed methods about how theories are used and developed in research. This research study, which investigated information behavior of digital age youth, applied and further developed radical change theory by adopting the theory-to-research-to-theory strategy. Radical change theory guided development of the research questions. The research design incorporated radical change theory to provide structure to the systematic data collection and analysis. Finally, radical change theory was further developed by the study's results. The study's primary finding is the development of a typology of youth information behavior in the digital age. The typology presents innovative information behaviors that operationalize radical change theory's concepts. The typology creation contributes to the expansion of the theory and lays the groundwork for future research.

► Theory-research-theory provides a framework for research and theory modification. ► Radical change theory was applied to youth information behavior in the digital age. ► Radical change theory was tested and refined. ► The enhanced theory serves as a framework for youth information behaviors.