The criterion of significance is met when you can answer yes to two questions:
• Is the middle-range theory socially significant? • Is the middle-range theory theoretically significant?
Is the Middle-Range Theory Socially Significant?
The criterion of significance requires the middle-range theory to be socially significant. That means the theory is about people experiencing a health condition that currently is regarded as having some practical importance by the general public and members of one or more dis- ciplines. The social significance of a middle-range theory is obvious when the theory focuses on a health condition, such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, that is experienced by a rel- atively large number of people. Social significance is also obvious when the theory focuses on a health condition that is experienced by a relatively small number of people but has a large impact on the quality of people’s lives, such as spinal cord injury or mental illness. In other words, social significance is concerned with whether the health condition experienced by people is regarded as having a considerable actual or potential impact on desired lifestyle. The social significance of a middle-range theory typically is explained in a few sentences about the incidence of a particular health condition (Cowen, 2005). An example of social significance from Newman’s (2005) study of correlates of functional status of caregivers of children in body casts is given in Box 6–4.
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