Most nursing concepts are relatively abstract. As a result the multiple dimensions and characteristics included in their meaning must be specified carefully and with precision. Therefore, how to reach "mature" concepts for operationalization in nursing research?
Dear Muayyad
I agree with the sentiment of your question. Underlying it is, I think, the presumption that most nursing research will be examining concepts that are nursing specific. I don't think that is the case, not should it be. While nurse may bring particular perspectives and have a particular interest in particular topics few, if any, are the sole domain of nursing. So I think one strategy to reach mature concepts is to stop trying to look for nursing specific concepts to differentiate ourselves from others. Following on from that mature concepts are those which are clearly defined / theorized, are widely accepted and used and which have a clear grounding in empirical research.
I agree that most abstract nursing concepts do not meet those definitions and few ever will. While some may make the journey from abstract to concrete there are many mature concepts that nursing research can address in the meantime! I attach an editorial from the International Journal of Nursing Studies. It is perhaps a little tangential to your point but it starts to set out a vision for nursing research that is rather different from that purveyed by some scholars, which emphasizes narrow disciplinary silos and discipline specific language / constructs. this is not the way forward in my view! I would add that such a profession centered view is very much at odds with a patient centred approach to health care delivery and research.
Article What is a nursing research journal?
Thank you Dr. Griffiths for your vision. Definitely I agree with you regarding "not to consider or claim nursing specific concepts" for conducting research in nursing. I was also talking about concepts in psychosocial fields (as most of the concepts used in nursing research are mainly borrowed from other disciplines), however, even major concepts are still debatable in its definition such as Health, coping, stress. Consequently, the operational definition will not be highly valid!
....I agree with you although for all the concepts you list there are reasonably well established, albeit contested, operational / theoretical definitions (to varying degrees across your three examples). With many of these latent psycho-social constructs validity / validation can be something of a circular process but there is a degree of maturity, although all validation is somewhat provisional.
I think that this contrasts with some of the instruments / measures that are deployed in relation to nursing specific constructs where it is often hard to identify what the underlying construct is actually meant to be!
It's been good discussing it with you!
For me as a doctoral Nurse I appreciated your discussion topic because Dr. Muyyad ask an important question all the time make me confused when a research idea come to my mind but when I intend to start it I find many obstacles as it's not related to my nursing field/ pure medicine.... etc. and I'm really excited by Dr. Griffiths answers it give me a strong base I could start with in my next researches
Are we talking about perspective and different theoretic stand point? Words, concepts and phrases can be understood from a given theoretical framework i.e. nursing and caring and if we have the intention to deepen the understanding of what each concept means for nursing and caring we have to bring the nursing science perspective into the research. When we want to use a concept not necessary a concept primely belongs to the nursing area, I ask myself and my students what might the concept means for a nurse. Let us find out that, has the concept relevans for nursing and how can we understand the concept from a nursing perspective. I have find very interesting answers of relevans for nursing care. Let us take an example like communication, we are using the concept in different research areas, we use the same word but when I talk about communication I referee to different things that for example an IT - person means. The word is the same but the mening of the concept can be understod from different perspective. It will be an epistemological question for research.
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