Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Problems with paradigms in a caring profession.

J J Robinson1

  • 1Department of Nursing Studies, University of Nottingham, Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, England.

Journal of Advanced Nursing
|May 1, 1992
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Traversing the ovine cervix - a challenge for cryopreserved semen and creative science.

Animal : an international journal of animal bioscience·2012
Same author

Preliminary observations on some children with rheumatic heart disease transported to a subtropical climate.

The Journal of pediatrics·2010
Same author

Gastric Ulcer.

Journal of the National Medical Association·2010
Same author

Nutrition in the reproduction of farm animals.

Nutrition research reviews·2008
Same author

Ovine fetal development is more sensitive to perturbation by the presence of serum in embryo culture before rather than after compaction.

Theriogenology·2006
Same author

Number of ovulations in Texel x Scottish hill ewes carrying the Inverdale fecundity (FecX(I)) gene.

The Veterinary record·2006

The terms "paradigms" and "paradigm shifts," popularized by Thomas Kuhn, are often misused outside of their original scientific context. Their application to nursing knowledge is conceptually flawed and distracts from rigorous knowledge generation for practice.

Area of Science:

  • Philosophy of Science
  • Nursing Epistemology

Background:

  • Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (1962) introduced the concepts of scientific paradigms and paradigm shifts.
  • These terms have since permeated broader academic and public discourse.
  • The original application of these terms was specific to 'normal' scientific progress.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically evaluate the application of Kuhn's 'paradigms' and 'paradigm shifts' to the field of nursing.
  • To argue against the conceptual appropriateness of these terms in nursing knowledge development.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of Kuhn's original work on scientific revolutions.
  • Critique of the extension of these concepts to non-scientific disciplines, specifically nursing.
  • Examination of the implications for nursing epistemology and knowledge generation.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • The application of 'paradigms' and 'paradigm shifts' to nursing is conceptually flawed.
  • Such usage is an inappropriate extension of Kuhn's original scientific context.
  • This misuse distracts from essential, rigorous methods for nursing knowledge development.

Conclusions:

  • The terms 'paradigms' and 'paradigm shifts' should not be applied to nursing.
  • Nursing requires rigorous, modest approaches to knowledge generation, not misapplied grand theoretical frameworks.
  • Focus should remain on developing practical, evidence-based nursing knowledge.