NURSING THEORY AND CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT OR ANALYSIS

NURSING THEORY AND CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT OR ANALYSIS

NURSING THEORY AND CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT OR ANALYSIS
NURSING THEORY AND CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT OR ANALYSIS

Enhancing methodological clarity: principle-based concept analysis

Janice Penrod PhD RN

Assistant Professor, College of Health and Human Development; and Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania

State University, Pennsylvania, USA

Judith E. Hupcey EdD CRNP

Assistant Professor, College of Health and Human Development; and Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania

State University, Pennsylvania, USA

Accepted for publication 3 September 2004

Correspondence:

Janice Penrod,

College of Health and Human Development,

Pennsylvania State University,

203 HHDE University Park,

PA 16802,

USA.

E-mail: [email protected]

PENROD J. & HUPCEY J.E . (2005)PENROD J. & HUPCEY J.E . (2005) Journal of Advanced Nursing 50(4), 403–409

Enhancing methodological clarity: principle-based concept analysis

Aims. The aim of this paper is to operationalize the principle-based method of

concept analysis.

Background. While nursing has embraced the use of concept analysis as a valid and

significant entrée into an area of research, methodological development has created

strategies of inquiry that vary in purpose and in the nature of their findings.

Discussion. We propose that, as the primary utility of concept analysis is to

determine the existing state of the science so that further work may be strategically

and appropriately planned, the method described as principle-based concept ana-

lysis is superior in providing evidence to support subsequent inquiry into the concept

of interest.

Three problematic issues are discussed in an effort to clarify and procedurally

explicate the strategies employed in this approach: selecting disciplinary literatures

for inclusion in the analysis; conceptually-driven sampling issues; and within- and

across-discipline analytic techniques.

Conclusion. In this form of concept analysis, each principle contributes to an

understanding of the strengths and limitations of the present state of the concept in

the scientific literature. We believe that this perspective will enable nursing to begin

to harness the power of concept analysis for advancing science rather than simply

imagining what a concept could be or constructing what we believe it should be.

Keywords: concept analysis, principle-based concept analysis

Introduction

Nursing has traditionally valued processes of concept analysis

for the identification of concepts suitable for subsequent

research and as a means to determine the appropriate

methodologies for investigating the concept of interest. For

example, it is commonly asserted that concepts that are not

well defined or integrated in theoretical formulations are best

suited to qualitative studies, while clearly defined and

operationalized concepts are more amenable to quantitative

study (Morse & Field 1995). Although multiple methods of

concept analysis are available, all methods are not equal in

producing analytic results that serve researchers in processing

subsequent methodological decisions for research that

extends the science of nursing.

The purpose of this paper is to operationalize the principle-

based method for concept analysis using criteria put forward

by Morse and colleagues (Morse 1995, Hupcey et al. 1996,

Morse et al. 1996a, 1996b) to produce findings that are

useful in determining subsequent methods for advancing a

concept. In addition, problematic issues discovered through

use of this principle-based method in our own work,

� 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 403

supervision of doctoral students, and peer review of manu-

scripts describing the application of this method are

addressed. We conclude that the evaluation of findings

derived through a thoughtful application of a principle-based

analysis provides insights into appropriate pathways for

advancement of a concept and, therefore, towards greater

utility in nursing science and practice.

Understanding concepts

We will present a brief summary to orient readers to our

understanding of concepts as empirically-based abstractions

of reality or truth. We believe that truth transcends the

contextual experience of human existence, and that the

collective exposition of that truth reveals our best estimate of

probable truth. Thus, probable truth (as revealed in the

scientific literature) is the foundation of concept analysis.

Concepts may be described as ordinary or everyday

(meaning a cognitive formation that results through natural

human processes that occur through being in the world with

others) or scientific (meaning abstractions that are developed

into more precise meaning units that, when linked together,

propositionally form a theoretical representation of empi-

rically-experienced reality). We assert that while the every-

day meaning of concepts may contribute to scientific

understanding, ordinary concepts (with implicit meaning)

are inadequate for scientific inquiry. In turn, analytic

techniques used in scientific endeavours must focus on

scientific concepts. Should the scientific concept not capture

the everyday notion of the concept (termed an inconsistency

or gap in understanding), further development of the

concept is indicated. This is done through scientific inquiry

into the empirical derivation of the concept, not carte

blanche acceptance and integration of contextual everyday

meaning.

Nursing science is concerned with complex human beha-

viour within a continually changing trajectory of health. The

concepts of interest to nursing are multifaceted, highly

integrated, and at times manifest differently at different

points along the health trajectory. Thus, a tapestry analogy

(developed with reference to Hemple 1966) aptly captures

our perspectives of the complexity of concept–theory linkages

in nursing science. In this analogy, theory is represented as a

tapestry of interwoven, knotted conceptual threads. This

analogy reinforces the importance of theoretical context in

processes of concept analysis. We assert that the power of

concept analysis is to identify the existing theoretical strands

that define a concept of interest and ultimately to tie and

re-tie the conceptual knots to form a stronger, more coherent

tapestry of theory. Theory (i.e. the tapestry) is strengthened

as the individual strands (i.e. concepts) are clarified and

developed.

Thus, as the state of a concept is first fully understood and

subsequently advanced, so is the science advanced (Penrod

1999, September). We propose that well-developed concepts

advance the discipline of nursing beyond the realm of purely

theoretical science. Clearly-developed, empirically-based con-

cepts are the basis of useful theory in nursing. Well-developed

theory has the potential to guide clinical practice to new

levels of human interaction that promote health and well-

being. We believe that such praxis theory (that is, theory that

produces thoughtful action) demands the primary attention

of nurse scholars.

Morse et al. (1996b) and colleagues have proposed the

term ‘maturity’ to label a concept’s level of development.

What can a label of the level of maturity tell us about the

state of the science surrounding a developing concept? Level

of maturity ranges on a continuum from immature to mature,

yet few descriptive labels are available to describe the

variations among these levels. In addition, assignment of an

evaluative label of maturity does little to inform scientists of

gaps or limitations in understanding. Rather than relying on a

label of maturity, we assert that careful evaluation of the state

of the science represents scholars’ best estimates of probable

truth surrounding the concept at that point in time. The

caveat to this statement is the evolutionary nature of science –

as science evolves, so does the evidence available to support

the criteria-based evaluation of a concept. Therefore, concept

analysis is not a static product.

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