Assignment: Concept Analysis paper

Unit Two
Keynote:Concept Analysis

Concept Analysis Keynote
Dr. Afaf Meleis is one our foremost nurse scholars known globally for her devotion to nursing science, theory, and promotion of scholarly inquiry (Meleis, 2012).

Meleis (1997) describes a phenomenon (singular) as “An aspect of reality that can be consciously sensed or experienced” (p. 11). Phenomena (plural) can be described

from evidence that is sense based and can be seen, heard, smelled, or felt, or is derived from evidence that is grouped together through connections (Meleis,1997). To

use a real world example: you are flying home from Europe and you feel tired, groggy, and are having problems remembering things. These things are all related to the

phenomenon of flying across multiple time zones.
Now…how does that relate to concepts? A concept, according to our Meleis (1997), “is a term used to describe a phenomenon or a group of phenomena” (p.12). A

concept provides us with detailed summation of thoughts related to the phenomenon…a labeling of sorts. If we did not have that label, we would have to go into

detail to describe the phenomenon. Therefore, from our example above related to flying, we can give that the label “jetlag.” Our concept is jetlag…when you hear

that term, you automatically think of what that means…that groggy, slightly disoriented feeling you get when flying across time zones. Sometimes, the appropriate

labeling of the phenomenon will be very clear and other times it is more abstract.

Chinn & Kramer (2008) say that a concept lies along a continuum from the empiric (more directly experienced) to the abstract (more mentally constructed). For

example, the most concrete empirical concepts are those that can be directly experienced such as height and weight; this type of “measured” concept would lie at one

end of the continuum. Concepts can also be much more abstract, such as “self esteem” and “wellness”, this type of concept would lie on the other end of the continuum.

Do you see the difference? Of course, the more empiric and concrete, the easier it is to understand and measure. The more abstract the concept, the more difficult

to understand and measure. The most abstract concepts, such as self-esteem and wellness in our example, are often called “constructs”.

How does this relate to theory? Concepts are the building blocks of theory; a well-constructed theory will contain multiple, well defined concepts which provide

a way to examine our patients, the overall health situation, even the environment. Your beginning step should be to think about the phenomenon of interest you just

wrote about in the prior forum. What comes to mind when you think about the POI? Are any “words or “labels” forming in your mind related to the POI?
Ponder this patient scenario for a moment. You are providing care to woman who suffers with fibromyalgia. Understanding fibromyalgia can take years to

diagnosis, you hear the patient report the daily suffering with pain, even with a gentle touch. Often the patient reports her husband is immune to hearing complaints

of pain. The emergency room has identified the patient as drug seeking and the primary care physician has referred her to a psychiatrist because of the stress,

anxiety, depression, and difficulty thinking clearly. What words or labels come to mind with the above scenario?
Now, try to understand the phenomenon from the patient’s perspective. What do patients’ with fibromyalgia feel, think, or believe about themselves, the pain,

their support system, and or their providers? If I want to understand the providers’ perspective, I would still ask, “what does the provider think, feel, or believe

about female patients’ reporting chronic pain?
The first step is to identify an appropriate concept to analyze your POI. The process of analyzing a concept helps you understand and define the concept to

determine its fit for your POI. It really gives insight into your phenomenon and helps you see how the concept works. It also helps clarify those concepts that are

commonly used in nursing but mean different things to different people.
In our class discussion, you should share your POI with your classmates and list a few concepts you have identified as “fitting” the POI. If this is confusing

for you, review your readings and think about our examples here. Also, feel free to ask for feedback from peers in the discussion area. The faculty will be entering

the discussion periodically, but we want you all to share your wisdom with each other.
The discussion is not a one-way discussion between the faculty and all of you, but an area for dialogue between students with periodic faculty comment. Feel free

to toss out ideas to your colleagues in the class discussion. The faculty member will notify you if your concept has been approved. Typically, your concept will be

fine unless it has an odd twist or absolutely no applicability to your phenomenon. Then your faculty will ask you to explain your thoughts and beliefs about the

concept to understand your perspective. The questioning is a method used by Socrates, known as the Socratic Method. The method must have worked because Plato was one

of his students. Please do not take offense to the questions; remember our class discussions are to mimic dialogue in a classroom as if we’re all around a conference

table tossing out ideas and brainstorming. Indeed, we want you to gain insight with the dialogue that helps with learning and gaining new knowledge.
Here at the USA College of Nursing, the faculty has decided to use a variation of the Walker and Avant method of concept analysis. These authors adapted Wilson’s

1963 concept analysis methodology. Walker and Avant’s concept analysis methodology is straight forward, but does require some thought. Probably the most difficult

step is actually selecting a concept (Walker & Avant, 2005). A detailed discussion on how to proceed using this method, as well as further definition of what the

faculty is expecting in this assignment can be found in the Assignment: Concept Analysis section of this Lessons Unit as well as in the Assignment section itself.

Multiple examples of published concept analysis articles using Walker and Avant’s method are linked for you in the Unit Two Reading and Resources section. Looking

over these articles will give you another example of what is “well done”.
References

Chinn, P.L., & Kramer, M.K. (2008). Integrated theory and knowledge development in nursing. St.
Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
Meleis, A. I. (1997). Theoretical nursing: Development and progress (3rd Ed.).
Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.
Meleis, A. I. (2012). Theoretical nursing: Development and progress (5th Ed.). Philadelphia, PA:
Lippincott.
Walker, L.O., & Avant, K.C. (2005). Strategies for theory construction in nursing. (4th Ed). Upper
Saddle River, N.J. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Assignment: Concept Analysis paper

NU 607 Fall 2014
Concept Analysis assignment instructions/Grading rubric
The first step is to identify your concept and have it approved by your faculty within the discussion forum. Once this is behind you, you can begin the written

assignment. The paper may be no more than 10 pages maximum, should be written in a formal scholarly style and conform to APA format. The following discussion is based

on the grading rubric criteria. The use of headings is strongly recommended to organize your paper into the sections listed below:
Significance to your practice and to nursing:We want to hear from you why you think the concept is important. What is it about this concept that is significant to your

practice and to nursing in general? Examine the concept from both within the lens of your personal practice and within Nursing in general.
Identify uses and define the concept: This section is so very important! What you want to do is look at many, many different sources for uses and definitions of your

concept…dictionaries, literature, thesauruses, etc. Do not stick only to the nursing or medical literature. Present the historical development of the concept and its

origins in language. Gather all the definitions you can find, even those that you think are unrelated. For example, if your concept is coping, then even look at uses

from the architecture literature…there are copings on buildings…coping saws, a coping garment, etc. Even though you may not think it is related to nursing, looking

at a concept from as many different perspectives as possible helps you gain a thorough understanding of your concept and gives it a richness in meaning. You will be

required in the rubric (guidelines) of the paper to obtain definitions from at least 5 sources and 3 different disciplines. This is a minimum expectation. Look at

literature from other disciplines such as engineering, business, art, etc… Some concepts will have many more definitions/uses and remember that you want to be as

thorough as possible.

Define the attributes (include antecedents & consequences): As you are looking at the uses and definitions of the concept, make a list of the characteristics you are

seeing over and over. You want to try to show the cluster of attributes that are the most frequently associated with the concept and gives the analysis the broadest

insight into the concept. Also include the antecedents and consequences. Antecedents are those events or incidents that must occur prior to the occurrence of the

concept. Thus an antecedent cannot be a defining attribute. Consequences are those events or incidents that occur as a result of the occurrence of the concept…the

outcomes of the concept. In the coping example, an antecedent was an intensely stressful stimulus …the consequence was the regaining of balance. These may be

difficult to understand…be sure to refer to the concept analysis examples for further review.

Cases: Write each of these as actual scenarios
Model Case: The model case, also often called the exemplar case, is an example of what the concept looks like. You need to apply the concept to a clinical situation

sort of like a case study. You can make this up, use an example from your clinical practice, or an example from the literature (It is not appropriate to use the cases

developed by an author of a published concept analysis). Bold the defining attributes as your example includes them in the scenario.
Borderline Case: The borderline case is an example that contains some of the defining attributes but not all of them. The case is inconsistent in some way from the

concept under consideration. In Chinn & Kramer (2008), they speak of an analysis of fatigue. For the borderline case, the case could include military fatigue clothing.

Another example is the concept of mothering. A borderline case might be about a computer motherboard.
Related Case: A related case is an instance of concepts that are related to the concept being analyzed but that do not contain all of the defining attributes. For

example, the concept quality of life may include a related case that is an example of satisfaction with life, well-being or health status.
Contrary Case: This case is probably one of the easiest to understand. It is what the case absolutely is not. For example, with the concept of coping, a contrary case

would be the host who burns the roast, has a group of people to their house, serves them no food and sends them home. There is no coping to the stressful event.
You will include an introduction & conclusion in the paper as well. Remember that the introduction is really not a long paragraph. Open an introduction with an

attention grabber, add a few more overview sentences and close the opening paragraph with the thesis statement. For example, “This paper will include an analysis….”
The conclusion paragraph does not contain any new information or new references; it is a restatement of the main points of the paper.
A number of published concept analysis papers have been provided to you within the Lessons Unit 2 resource section. Be sure to review those articles if you get

“stuck” at some point in your writing.
One last point, since you are required to use Walker and Avant’s method of concept analysis, your paper should state this and you should list Walker and Avant on your

Reference list:
Walker, L.O., & Avant, K.C. (2005). Strategies for theory construction in nursing. (4th Ed). Upper Saddle River, N.J. Pearson Prentice Hall.

NU 607 Concept Analysis Grading rubric

Grading criteria   Points
Introduction paragraph including a thesis statement at the end of the paragraph that tells the reader the purpose of the paper and what will be discussed.   /1
Describe the significance of the concept to your practice and to nursing in general.   /4
Uses and definitions of the concept: Conduct a review of the literature on the concept. Describe the historical development of the concept and include its origins in

language. Provide definitions and uses of the concept. Incorporate a
minimum of 5 definitions from at least 3 different disciplines. Include a minimum of 2 peer reviewed articles where the concept is discussed. (Only one actual concept

analysis article may be used.)   /6
Formulate defining criteria (defining attributes) for the concept. Include a discussion of the concepts antecedents and consequences.   /4
Present a model case in which the concept is seen according to its defining criteria and attributes. Bold the defining characteristics.   /4
Explore what the concept is NOT by constructing a borderline case, a related case, and a contrary case.   /5
Conclusions: summarize the essential points of the paper   /1
Total points   /25
Deductions:   /
Final score:   /25

• The paper should be written in a formal, scholarly style. Correct APA format is required. The paper should be no more than 10 pages in length (excluding the

Title and Reference pages)
• For submission: each paper should be “named” according to the File naming policy of the course: see Lessons section for instructions on how to do this

appropriately
• Each paper should be submitted to Turnitin.com. A copy of the similarity report should be submitted with the paper to the Assignment section.
• Submission instruction: each paper should be submitted in PDF format to the appropriate category of Assignments section. Your Turnitin report should be merged

with your paper prior to submission. (There will be one document uploaded to the Assignment section.)
•   Up to 20% of the total points for this assignment may be deducted for an overall lack of scholarship to include:
o   APA errors
o   Grammatical errors
o   Incorrect spelling
o   Over the page limit
o   No Turnitin report merged with document
o   Document not submitted as a PDF, not named appropriately, etc.

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