[Critical reflections on the uncritical use of measuring instruments: Example Sense of Coherence questionnaire]

This article presents a critical discussion of Antonovsky's salutogenic model, focusing on its instrumentalisation in the Sense of Coherence questionnaire and implications for health care research. The critical discussion is related to three themes: a. The divorce between theory and method, b. The Sense of Coherence questionnaire: a "supra-cultural instrument"? and c. Numbers, normality and the social construction of reality. The author concludes that extreme cautiousness and further study is necessary before the Sense of Coherence questionnaire should be considered adequate for use in applied clinical research.