Theory of Nightingale
Processes For Analyzing Nursing Theory
With the development of many nursing theories, there arises the need to sort through the various ideas and critically analyze the worth for the profession and for personal practice. Just as any ideas should be examined before blind acceptance, so should nursing theory. A critique involves reflectively thinking about the theory and judging its value in a certain situation. A consideration regarding the contribution of the theory to body of knowledge must be made.
There have been some guidelines created to help guide the analysis of nursing theory. Some well-established criteria come from Chinn and Kramer (1998). These include clarity, simplicity, generality, empirical precision, and derivable consequences.
Clarity – To be useful, a theory must be clearly understood. Each concept in a theory must be given a theoretical definition that precisely describes how the concept is being used by the theorist. As can become obvious in usual communication, some words have different meanings to different people; this must be avoided in a theory. Concepts in a theory are related to each other through relational propositions. These too must be clearly stated. A very clear theory often could be diagrammed to show the relationships between concepts. The theory must also be consistent or congruent with the paradigm from which it arises. There should be a clear-cut, logical flow.
Simplicity – As well as being clear, a theory should be relatively simple. If a theory is too complex, it invites too many interacting factors, and the relationships between concepts become blurred. One theory cannot provide all the answers to all of the world’s problems, so useful theories are somewhat specific. Even if a theory is broad and has far reaching implications, it should be able to be described in fairly simple terms. A theory should be “clean,” it should be “tight.”
Generality – A good theory should be applicable broadly. It should not be too limited by
With the development of many nursing theories, there arises the need to sort through the various ideas and critically analyze the worth for the profession and for personal practice. Just as any ideas should be examined before blind acceptance, so should nursing theory. A critique involves reflectively thinking about the theory and judging its value in a certain situation. A consideration regarding the contribution of the theory to body of knowledge must be made.
There have been some guidelines created to help guide the analysis of nursing theory. Some well-established criteria come from Chinn and Kramer (1998). These include clarity, simplicity, generality, empirical precision, and derivable consequences.
Clarity – To be useful, a theory must be clearly understood. Each concept in a theory must be given a theoretical definition that precisely describes how the concept is being used by the theorist. As can become obvious in usual communication, some words have different meanings to different people; this must be avoided in a theory. Concepts in a theory are related to each other through relational propositions. These too must be clearly stated. A very clear theory often could be diagrammed to show the relationships between concepts. The theory must also be consistent or congruent with the paradigm from which it arises. There should be a clear-cut, logical flow.
Simplicity – As well as being clear, a theory should be relatively simple. If a theory is too complex, it invites too many interacting factors, and the relationships between concepts become blurred. One theory cannot provide all the answers to all of the world’s problems, so useful theories are somewhat specific. Even if a theory is broad and has far reaching implications, it should be able to be described in fairly simple terms. A theory should be “clean,” it should be “tight.”
Generality – A good theory should be applicable broadly. It should not be too limited by