Chapter 3: History and Philosophy of Science

HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

“Sometimes all that is possible is to embrace the mystery, the unknown, of a situation and allow it to be beyond reach or understanding it for a while.”

The construction of nursing theories is the formalization of attempts to describe, explain, predict, or control states of affairs in nursing (nursing phenomena).

Nursing as a Science

Science is logical, systematic, & coherent way to solve problems and answer questions.

It is a collection of facts known in area and the process used to obtain that knowledge.

     •Pure or basic 

     •Natural, human, or social

     •Applied or practical

Nursing and Philosophy

Philosophy studies concepts that structure thought processes, foundations, and presumptions.

It is an approach for thinking about the nature of people, the methods that should be used to create a scientific knowledge and the ethics involved. It denotes a perspective, implying a certain broad, “taken for granted” assumptions.

     •Nature of existence

     •Morality

     •Knowledge and reason

     •Human purpose

Epistemology – a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. It is referred to as the ‘theory of knowledge’

          •The power of reason and power of sensory experience (Gale)

Rationalism- the power of reason

          •Rationalist epistemology emphasizes the importance of a priori reasoning as the appropriate method for advancing knowledge.

          •Theory-then-research strategy (Reynolds)

          •Einstein made use of mathematical equations in developing his theories.

Empiricism- the power of sensory experience

          •Francis Bacon believed that scientific knowledge was discovered through the generalization of observed facts in the natural world.

          •Research-then-theory

          •Skinner’s work focuses on collection of empirical data

Early 20th Century Views of Science and Theory

1. Philosophers focused on the analysis of theory structure, whereas scientist focused on empirical research.
2. Positivism (imposed on the mind by experience) is the philosophy of science that information is derived from logical and mathematical treatments and reports of sensory experience is the exclusive source of all authoritative knowledge.
3. The logical positivist believed that, empirical research and logical analysis would produce scientific knowledge.
4. Logical empiricist argued that theoretical propositions must be tested through observation and experimentation.
5. Emergent Views of Science and Theory in the late 20th Century
6. Empiricists argue that for science to maintain its objectivity, data collection and analysis must be independent of a theory.
7. Brown argues that the new epistemology challenged the empiricist view of perception by acknowledging that theories play a significant role in determining what the scientist will observe and how it will be interpreted. He identified 3 different views of the relationship between theories and observation:

• Scientists are merely passive observers of occurrences in the empirical world. Observable data are objective truth waiting to be discovered.
• Theories structure what the scientists perceived in the empirical world.
• Presupposed theories and observable data interact in the process of scientific investigation.

Data-Driven, or Bottom-Up Theory- cognitive expectation are used to select input and process of incoming information from the environment.

Conceptually-driven or Top-Down Theory, asserts that incoming data are perceived as unlabeled input and  analyzed as raw data with increasing levels of complex until all data are classified.

Interdependence between Theory and Research

•A theory should be judged based on the basis of scientific consensus. 

•The acceptance of scientific hypothesis through research depends on the appraisal of the coherence of theory

•Dubin identified when scientific consensus is necessary:

       1. Agreement on the boundaries of the theory; the phenomenon it addresses and what it excludes

       2. Agreement on the logic used in constructing the theory to further understanding from a similar perspective

       3. Agreement that the theory fits the data collected and analyzed though research

Issues in Nursing Philosophy and Science Development

• Meleis characterized the years of progress in nursing in four stages:

     1.Practice

     2.Education and Administration

     3.Research 

     4.Development of Nursing Theory

• Peplau developed the first theory of nursing practice in her book, Interpersonal Relations in Nursing.
• Journal of Nursing Research (1952)
• 1960s and 1970s – analysis and debate on he metatheoretical issues related to theory development

Four fundamental patterns of knowledge in Nursing (Carper, 1978)
     1.Empirical knowledge (nursing science)
     2.Esthetic knowledge (nursing as an art)
     3.Moral knowledge (ethics in nursing)
     4.Personal knowledge (therapeutic use of self)

1980s further acceptance of nursing theory and its incorporation in the nursing curricula; publication of several nursing journals

Postpositivism focuses on discovering the patterns that may describe a phenomena.

Interpretive paradigm tends to promote understanding by addressing the meanings the participants social interaction that emphasize situation, context and multiple cognitive constructions that individuals create on everyday events.

Critical paradigm for knowledge development in nursing , provides framework for inquiring about the interaction between the social, political, economic, gender and cultural factors and experiences of health and illness.

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