Definitions and Characteristics of Theory Terms and Concepts Term Definition and Characteristics
Assumptions Assumptions are beliefs about phenomena one must accept as true to accept a theory about the phenomena as true. Assumptions may be based on accepted knowledge or personal beliefs and values. Although assumptions may not be susceptible to testing, they can be argued philosophically.
Borrowed or shared theory A borrowed theory is a theory developed in another discipline that is not adapted to the worldview and practice of nursing.
Concept Concepts are the elements or components of a phenomenon necessary to understand the phenomenon. They are abstract and derived from impressions the human mind receives about phenomena through sensing the environment.
Conceptual model/conceptual framework
A conceptual model is a set of interrelated concepts that symbolically represents and conveys a mental image of a phenomenon. Conceptual models of nursing identify concepts and describe their relationships to the phenomena of central concern to the discipline.
Construct Constructs are the most complex type of concept. They comprise more than one concept and are typically built or constructed by the theorist or philosopher to fit a purpose. The terms concept and construct are often used interchangeably, but some authors use concept as the more
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general term—all constructs are concepts, but not all concepts are constructs.
Empirical indicator Empirical indicators are very specific and concrete identifiers of concepts. They are actual instructions, experimental conditions, and procedures used to observe or measure the concept(s) of a theory.
Epistemology Epistemology refers to theories of knowledge or how people come to have knowledge; in nursing, it is the study of the origins of nursing knowledge.
Hypotheses Hypotheses are tentative suggestions that a specific relationship exists between two concepts or propositions. As the hypothesis is repeatedly confirmed, it progresses to an empirical generalization and ultimately to a law.
Knowledge Knowledge refers to the awareness or perception of reality acquired through insight, learning, or investigation. In a discipline, knowledge is what is collectively seen to be a reasonably accurate understanding of the world as seen by members of the discipline.
Laws A law is a proposition about the relationship between concepts in a theory that has been repeatedly validated. Laws are highly generalizable. Laws are found primarily in disciplines that deal with observable and measurable phenomena, such as chemistry and physics. Conversely, social and human sciences have few laws.
Metaparadigm A metaparadigm represents the worldview of a discipline—the global perspective that subsumes more specific views and approaches to the central concepts with which the discipline is concerned. The metaparadigm is the ideology within which the theories, knowledge, and processes for knowing find meaning and coherence. Nursing’s metaparadigm is generally thought to consist of the concepts of person, environment, health, and nursing.
Middle range theory Middle range theory refers to a part of a discipline’s concerns related to particular topics. The scope is narrower than that of broad-range or grand theories.
Model Models are graphic or symbolic representations of phenomena that objectify and present certain perspectives or points of view about nature or function or both. Models may be theoretical (something not directly observable—expressed in language or mathematics symbols) or empirical (replicas of observable reality—e.g., model of an eye).