reconceptualization

Reconceptualization is the process of forming a new concept or reorganizing the understanding of a phenomenon by revising its meaning, scope, or theoretical commitments. It goes beyond terminology changes to seek a fundamentally different framework that better accounts for observations, data, or aims. Reconceptualization can occur within a field or across disciplines, and it is often motivated by new evidence, persistent anomalies, or shifts in research questions and applications.

The process typically involves identifying limitations of the existing concept, surveying relevant developments, proposing a new or altered conceptualization, and evaluating its implications for theory, method, and practice. It may entail redefining core attributes, expanding or narrowing boundaries, and altering the relationships among related constructs. Reconceptualization can reflect broader epistemic shifts, such as paradigm-level changes, or occur as incremental reframing within an established framework.

Contexts where reconceptualization is common include education, psychology, anthropology, organizational studies, and science and technology studies. For example, moving from a narrow notion of classroom management to a broader concept of learning environment reframes attention toward student agency and social context. In psychology, reconceptualizing a construct like intelligence as a dynamic, context-dependent process can reshape measurement and intervention.

Outcomes of reconceptualization may include greater explanatory power, clearer constructs, and more effective practice, but it can also provoke conceptual fragmentation, ambiguity, or resistance from communities attached to existing frameworks. See also conceptual change, paradigm shift, and theoretical framework.