Questioning the Foundations of Research Methodologies in Nursing: A Reflection Based on Problematology

Since its expansion in the 1980s, nursing research has aimed to develop knowledge to produce evidence-based results that can help nurses to guide and improve decision-making regarding patient care. Nursing research is based on a rigorous methodology that meets the criteria determined by the scientific method. However, nursing research predominantly adopts approaches such as gap-spotting and problematization that remain centred on existing knowledge about phenomena. Gap-spotting seeks to identify unanswered questions in the literature, whereas problematization challenges the assumptions underlying previous research. Although these approaches differ, neither necessarily directs questioning towards nursing reality itself or towards the questioning through which that reality is apprehended. Beyond gap-spotting and problematization, this reflection is based on problematology, a philosophical approach that consists of questioning reality and reflexively interrogating the questioning through which that reality is approached. It involves questioning when we want to know which questions to ask and how to distinguish them from questions that seem insoluble. Such a stance will allow us to show the limits of ontologization and examine how the prevailing manner of not questioning reality in nursing can hinder the development of new knowledge in nursing. In this regard, this article uses the example of the nurse's role as a sociopolitical agent to provide an overview of the possibilities offered by the use of problematology.