Page 541 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

508 n THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

determined not only by the progression and theoretical world and the empirical world to
management of the disease process by health which it applies are made through the formu-
T professionals, but also by the way in which lation and testing of hypotheses. Theoretical
one is perceived by self and others” (p. 264). frameworks are developed and tested through
With social death, the terminally ill will be theory-linked research. Theory-generating
dead to themselves and others prior to their research is designed to discover and describe
physical death. If such is the case, caregivers, concepts and relationships for the construc-
both informal and professional, will have tion of theory. Once theory is constructed,
failed in their care of the terminally ill. theory-testing research is used to validate
how accurately the theory depicts empirical
Inge B. Corless phenomena and their relationships.
generation of theoretical frameworks in
nursing has followed an evolutionary pro-
cess. Initially, nursing grappled with defin-
TheoreTical Framework ing theory for a developing discipline. In
the 1960s and 1970s, early nurse theorists
attempted to answer questions, such as (a)
A theoretical framework is a group of state- around what phenomena do nurses develop
ments composed of concepts related in some theory? (b) What are the things nurses think
way to form an overall view of a phenome- about and take action on? (c) What are the
non. As constructions of our mind, theoret- boundaries of the discipline? In response to
ical frameworks provide explanations about these questions, a proliferation of concep-
our experiences of phenomena in the world. tual models and philosophies of practice of
The explanations provided by theoretical nursing were developed. These nursing con-
frameworks are of two types: descriptive ceptual models are considered at the grand
(understanding the interaction among a set theory level, examples of which are the the-
of variables) or prescriptive (anticipating a ories of Johnson, Roy, Neuman, Rogers, and
particular set of outcomes; Dubin, 1978). The Watson.
term theoretical framework often is used inter- The discipline also addressed the ques-
changeably with the terms theory, theoretical tion of how to develop theory for nursing
model, and theoretical system. and proposed definitions emphasizing the
Theoretical frameworks consist of the structure, purpose, and use of theory. Nurse
following components: (a) concepts that are scientists and theorists debated methods of
identified and defined, (b) assumptions that developing theory, including reformulation
clarify the basic underlying truths from of borrowed theories and development of
which and within which theoretical reason- unique nursing theories based on quanti-
ing proceeds, (c) the context within which tative and qualitative research. These dis-
the theory is placed, and (d) relationships cussions led to the acceptance of multiple
between and among the concepts that are approaches to theory development in nurs-
identified. Theoretical frameworks serve as ing, including both inductive and deductive
guides for practitioners and researchers in methods. Recent attention has focused on the
that they organize existing knowledge and need to develop knowledge about the sub-
aid in making new discoveries to advance stance of nursing. Middle range theories that
nursing practice. focus on the clinical processes in nursing are
The scientist focuses on making the being developed. Examples of middle-range
empirical world and the theoretical world theoretical frameworks are Mishel’s theory
(represented by theoretical frameworks) as of uncertainty in illness, pender’s theory of
congruent as possible. Linkages between the health promotion, Smith’s story theory, and