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2.6. Concept Analysis of Resident Autonomy
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Chapter 2: Literature Review
A concept analysis (CA) has many purposes, including refining ambiguous concepts
in a theory and clarifying over-used, vague concepts. Concept analysis is important
for three main reasons. Firstly, in theory development whereby theories are
developed by clarified concepts (Chinn and Kramer, 1991). Secondly, in
operationalising a concept, enabling research and perhaps the development of
measuring instruments (Browne, 1993), and thirdly, to improve practice by offering
nurses a clearer understanding of what certain terms mean (Mairis, 1994). For the
purpose of this research the concept analysis will initially clarify the concept of
autonomy for older people in residential care and compile its attributes. Norris
(1982) stated that abstract concepts need to be clarified so that the operational
definition can be used as a foundation for research. Baldwin (2008) suggested that
concept analysis is the essential first step in research and that it can provide a
knowledge base for practice by offering clarity and enabling understanding rather
than mere knowing. He concludes that it is a pragmatic and rigorous approach to
defining concepts that can make a significant contribution to knowledge and, by
implication, to nursing practice.
No previous concept analysis of resident autonomy has been undertaken and in light
of the lack of consensus on what resident autonomy actually is or is not it was
necessary at this point to conduct a concept analysis. The literature from the
literature review was further analysed in order to delineate the attributes, antecedents
and consequences of resident autonomy. Rodgers’ (1989) framework was used to
guide the concept analysis. The literature used for the concept analysis included all
literature from the review. Therefore theoretical texts and research reports were
analysed for their content. The literature which informed the attributes is detailed in
table 2.2, the literature which informed the antecedents is detailed in table 2.3 and
the literature which detailed the consequences is detailed in table 2.4.
The first step in Rodgers’ (1989) approach to concept analysis involves identifying
and naming the concept of interest. A gap in research was identified in relation to
autonomy for older people in residential care; hence the concept of interest was
identified. Step two involves identifying surrogate terms and relevant uses of the