The Evolution of Theory: A Case Study

Abstract

International attention is currently focused on alleviating health disparities through the adoption of new paradigms of research and the development of culturally relevant theories of health and illness. Yet, in spite of consistent calls to inform these deficiencies, the methodological trajectory from problem identification to theoretical development has remained relatively elusive. In this article, the authors present a case study of a systematic research methodology that resulted in a refined theory of social capital with practical relevance for health disparities research. Their purpose is to demonstrate how the stages and strategies of the hybrid model of concept development were extended as a research trajectory.

Reflections from a Creative Community-Based Participatory Research Project Exploring Health and Body Image with First Nations Girls

“…A profound strength of photovoice is that discussions and research directions are determined by the participants. Participants capture images of importance in their lives, lead discussions, identify issues, and work toward formulating solutions, thus becoming more entrenched in the research process (Carlson, Engebretson, & Chamberlain, 2005; Moffitt & Vollman, 2004). This is extremely empowering when used in connection with youth, whose voices can go unheard in research.…”

Building action focused research in social care organisations

“…However, this approach had the clear benefit of reducing the external pressures to produce 'findings' ahead of clarity about relationships -such a critical matter to our developing model. It assisted us to think about how the findings could contribute to ongoing theory building (Carlson, Engebretson, and Chamberlain 2005). The project achieved a high level of engagement within the organisation and generated a commitment to an ongoing process by both researchers and organisational staff.…”

“…Finally, researchers, practitioners and clients have resources they can share within their communities and there is a reflexive process that can occur between research, practice and community domains (indicated in the far right hand panel of Figure 4). This community engagement also enables researchers to gain an understanding of the everyday life of the community and to generate rich data that may function to disrupt previously held views about particular communities and provide a deeper understanding of community life (Fine et al 2003;Carlson, Engebretson, and Chamberlain, 2005).…”

“…Learning from these different areas feeds back into the team and generates further new ideas in an ongoing dynamic fashion, and all parties can become actively involved in change through this process of action and reflection. These also generate new ways of interpreting research findings and in this way an ongoing process of theory building can be developed (Carlson, Engebretson and Chamberlain, 2005).…”

“…The nature of evidence and the ways in which evidence is produced are issues of interest to scholars and practitioners in the health, education and social work fields (McNeil 2001;Steinmetz 2004;Carlson, Engebretson, and Chamberlain 2005;Clegg 2005 Feldman 2007). In a similar way, as part of its struggle to be seen as a legitimate profession underpinned by strong science, social work practice research has concerned itself with establishing measures of effectiveness, development of outcome indicators and the concretisation of the details of practice (Shaw 2004).…”