Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
There are several methods of analyses and much reference in the
literature to Wilson’s approach (1971). Walker and Avant (1983)
adapted Wilson’s method for the study of nursing concepts. The
approach has been used by many in nursing eg. dignity (Mairis,
1994), grief (Jacobs, 1993), intimacy (Timmerman, 1991) and
presence (Gilje, 1992). The contribution of concept analysis to
knowledge can be seen in Bu and Jezewski’s (2007) clarification,
also, of advocacy. Bu and Jezewski (2007) propose a mid-range
theory of advocacy.
Wilson’s (1971) and Walker and Avant’s (1983) concept analysis
methods have been criticized for simplifying complex concepts
(Morse, 1995), for being reductionist and offering a static view of
concepts (Rodgers 1989). Entity and dispositional views of concepts
are identified by Rodgers (1989): the focus being on the concept as
an entity in itself, and the use of concepts in reality respectively.
The entity approach removes the concept from context. This is the
approach inherent in Wilson’s (1971) and Walker and Avant’s
(1983) method.
Rodgers’s (1994) evolutionary cycle of concept development
acknowledges that concepts are influenced by ‘significance’, ‘use’
and ‘application’. This method seems to facilitate analysis that is
practice related as it focuses on application of a concept in practice.
Morse (1995) on the other hand favours an alternative approach to
establish a concept’s maturity. Drawing on ‘rules of relation’ (Bolton
1977, cited by Morse 1995) Morse (1995) recommends analysing
primary and secondary data to decide whether the object of enquiry
can be considered a concept. This is followed by applying the ‘rules
of relation’ to clarify which of six concept analysis approaches is
best for analysing a particular concept (Morse 1995). Wilson’s
(1971), Walker and Avant’s (1983) and Rodgers’s (1989) work on
concept analysis and development, along with Morse’s (1995)
qualitative thematic analysis will influence the research approach to
the study of concepts.
In that the purpose of research is to contribute to scientific
knowledge (Burns and Grove, 1999; Hockey, 2003) it is essential to
be clear about what science and scientific knowledge. Dictionaries
define knowledge as the act or process of knowing. The Dictionary
of Philosophy (Lacey, 1986) and Leddy and Pepper (1993) suggest
that it is "justified true belief" but one can argue that what counts
as justification is open to interpretation (Lacey, 1986). Similarly
Doyal (1993) invites one to challenge authority rather than accept it
in the pursuit of growth of knowledge.
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