Nevertheless, many questions remain about the actual importance of social support due to varying opinions and controversies over the evidence that many social support researchers report. Perhaps then it is necessary to review some of the studies and their concluding data in order to evaluate the influence, if any, that social support has upon people and their health. Much of the research done in the area of social support employs the functional approach as opposed to the structural approach. The structural approach views social networks and their effects on a broad quantitative level while the functional approach takes a more qualitative view by looking at specific functions within a particular relationship. Thus, the functional approach is more commonly used in studies that seek to discover the values of particular aspects of social support.
Instrumental support provides material goods and needs.
Informational support allows for more concrete facts and advice. Lastly, emotional support focuses on the expression of caring and concern. Considering the great amount of research completed in the functional framework with a concentration on emotional aspects of social support, the studies evaluated in this discourse will also follow that framework in assessing the influence of social support on health. They studied women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who were all receiving regular oncological care. They divided the group of eighty-six women into two groups.