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Theory Development—Overview
• Theories are systematic explanations of
events in which:
– Concepts are identified.
– Relationships are proposed.
– Predictions are made.
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Theory Development—Overview—
(cont.)
• Theories are invented to:
– Describe or explain phenomena
– Solve problems
– Improve practice
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Question
Theory development in nursing seeks which of the
following?
A. Understand practice.
B. Identify and express ideas.
C. Organize existing knowledge.
D. All of the above
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Answer
D. All of the above
Rationale: Theory development helps nursing to
understand practice, provides a method for identifying
and expressing key ideas, helps organize existing
knowledge, and makes new discoveries to advance the
practice of nursing.
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Theory Development—Overview—
(cont.)
• Theory development is the process used to create,
modify, or refine a theory.
• Theory development involves a number of stages.
– Start with concept analysis.
– Concepts are refined.
– How concepts are related are proposed.
– Propositions are tested.
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Relationship among levels of theory.
(From Walker, L. O., & Avant, K. C. [2011]. Strategies for theory construction in
nursing [5th ed.]. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Reprinted by permission of
Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.)
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Types of Theory
• Descriptive—describe, observe, and
name concepts
• Explanatory—describe relationships
between concepts
• Predictive—describe causal or
consequential relationships
• Prescriptive—prescribe activities to
reach goals
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Components of a Theory
• Purpose
• Concepts and conceptual definitions
• Theoretical statements
• Structure and linkages
• Assumptions
• Models
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Components of a Theory—(cont.)
• Purpose—why the theory was formulated; specifies
the context or situation in which it should be
applied
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Components of a Theory—(cont.)
• Concepts and conceptual definitions
– Theoretical definitions—description of the
phenomenon
– Operational definitions—identification of
empirical referents
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Components of a Theory—(cont.)
• Theoretical statements
– Explain the relationship between concepts
– Connect concepts
– Several types
• Propositions
• Laws
• Axioms
• Hypotheses
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Question
Tell whether the following statement is true or false:
Propositions and hypotheses are written to identify
relationships between concepts.
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Answer
True
Rationale: In theories, hypotheses and propositions are
types of statements that describe or explain relationships
between and among concepts.
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Components of a Theory—(cont.)
• Theoretical statements—(cont.)
– Existence statements—name a concept or make
claims or clarify a concept (may be true or false)
– Relational statements—assert that a relationship
exists between two or more concepts
• Correlational statements
• Causal statements
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Components of a Theory—(cont.)
• Structure and linkages
– Logical arrangement of concepts and relational
statements
– Generally descriptive explanation (written)
– Arrangement leads to hypotheses
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Components of a Theory—(cont.)
• Assumptions
– Statements that are taken to be true
without proof
– Can be argued philosophically
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Components of a Theory—(cont.)
• Models
– Schematic representations of an aspect of reality
– May be objects, diagrams, geometric formulas, or
words
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Relationship Among Theory, Research,
and Practice
• Theory and research
– Research validates and modifies theory;
theories identify research questions.
• Theory and practice
– Theory guides practice; practices shapes
theory.
• Research and practice
– Research promotes effective practice; practice
identifies problems for research.
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Research–theory–practice cycle.
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Approaches to Theory Development
• Theory to practice to theory
– An existing theory (borrowed or shared) is
identified.
– Components are analyzed for use in new
context based on observation and experience.
– Concepts, assumptions, and propositions are
redefined, and a new “nursing” theory
developed.
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Approaches to Theory
Development—(cont.)
• Practice to theory
– Theory is inductively derived from clinical
situations.
– Process uses grounded theory methodologies.
• Researcher observes and analyzes phenomenon.
• Researcher compares defining concepts and
proposes relationships or linkages.
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Approaches to Theory
Development—(cont.)
• Research to theory
– Theory is a product of findings from repeated
research.
– Theories evolve from confirmed research findings.
– Patterns are identified from research.
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Approaches to Theory Development—
(cont.)
• Theory to research to theory
– Theory drives the research
questions, and results modify the
theory.
– Objective is theory testing.
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Process of Theory Development
• Concept development
• Statement development
• Theory construction
• Theory testing
• Theory application
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Process of Theory Development—
(cont.)
• Concept development
– Concepts are the building blocks of the theory.
– In theory development, must create conceptual
meaning
– Involves defining and clarifying the concepts
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Process of Theory Development—(cont.)
• Statement development—Statements are the
“skeletons” of the theory.
– Statement development
– Empirical referent identification
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Process of Theory Development—(cont.)
• Theory construction—developing the formal
theoretical structure
– Structure and contextualize the theory’s
components.
– Identify and define the concepts and
assumptions.
– Clarify the context in which the theory is
placed.
– Design relationship statements.
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Question
Which of the following would NOT be a component of the
process of theory construction?
A. Identify and define the concepts.
B. Specify linkages between/among the concepts.
C. Contextualize the theory.
D. Review the theoretical literature.
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Answer
D. Review the theoretical literature.
Rationale: This step should have been done prior to
beginning the process of theory development.
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Process of Theory Development—(cont.)
• Theory testing—process of testing theoretical
relationships
– Name and define empirical indicators.
– Validate relationships through research.
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Process of Theory Development—(cont.)
• Theory application—assess how theory is applied in
practice
– Select a setting for application.
– Determine outcome variables or practice goals
for application of the theory.
– Implement a method to examine the theoretical
relationships.
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