Some remarks on the relevance of basic research in nursing inquiry

Abstract

The aim of this article was to illuminate the issue of basic research in nursing and to problematize its relevance for our discipline. First, we asked leading nursing scholars in the Nordic countries to share their views on basic research in nursing. Thereafter, the ideas, views and suggestions of the scholars were amalgamated with insights from the literature and from the discussions in our project team. Our two guiding questions were: What role can basic research be assigned? Which, if any, forms of basic research can be identified? We found that basic nursing research may be seen as a necessary basis for applied research, as a contribution to applied research, or that the whole issue is seen as a pseudo-issue. We further found that basic nursing research can be seen as either contextual or general as well as either intradisciplinary or multidisciplinary in form. We conclude by the following three succinct remarks or assertions: that basic nursing research is not to be equated with biomedical conceptions of basic research; that basic nursing research may take place on several theoretical levels; and finally, that an indiscriminate dismissal of basic research in nursing may affect the cognitive autonomy of our discipline.

The enhancement of clinical competence through caring science

“…The link between the two research domains can be seen in the degree of understanding and insight accumulated during the dialogical assessment stage as a platform of learning. These insights are used for empowering understanding and have the probability to act as the incentive for further development .…”

Omvårdnad som filosofisk aktivitet — en teoretisk studie

“…Det finns en hel del litteratur som argumenterar för vikten av filosofi inom utbildning och forskning [10,12,13,14,15]. Det finns också en hel del forskning som diskuterar omvårdnadsproblem utifrån filosofisk synvinkel [2,3,6,7,8,10,12,13,14,15]. Jag bejakar helhjärtat dessa strömningar men det bör betonas att föreliggande tes går ett steg längre.…”

Legitimizing basic research by evaluating quality

“…Moreover, this is of particular concern to research conducted using a hermeneutic or phenomenological approach when clear criteria for evaluation are required. 16,17,[34][35][36] In this regard, it is important to note that there are two types of evaluation used in the academic/education field: formative and summative evaluation. 30,31,37 However, although the existence of guidelines in the literature concerning the evaluation of qualitative studies do exist, 6,13,38,39 there is still no guideline for evaluating basic qualitative research or basic research in the caring sciences conducted by hermeneutic or phenomenological approaches.…”