Concept analysis: examining the state of the science.

As methods for analyzing concepts have proliferated in nursing, a critical methodological issue has arisen. Analytic techniques for examining conceptual meaning have incorporated varied strategies for advancing the concept under the rubric of concept analysis, concept development, and theory building. The authors argue that this evolution has created methodological confusion. Following a discussion of a conceptualization of concepts and concept-theory-truth linkages, methods of concept analysis are critiqued in terms of the purpose and the nature of the findings produced by analyses using both traditional and emergent methods. The authors argue that concept analysis is a process of strategic examination of the scientific literature that results in an integrated perspective of the state of the science, or what is known about the concept. In contrast, concept advancement refers to techniques that emphasize the synthesis of new or deeper knowledge that is relevant to the discipline. The authors conclude that disentangling concept analysis from techniques for concept advancement is critical to enhancing the utility of concept-based research in nursing. Keywords: concept analysis; concept development; concept advancement; state of science; concepts; theory development Over the past several decades, multiple methods of concept analysis have been developed and applied in nursing. These techniques have provided nursing researchers with much needed analytic processes to examine the conceptual understanding of phenomena of interest to nursing science. Such conceptual understanding guides translational research that in turn directs the development of evidence-based practice. Thus, phenomena-concepts-practice are inherently linked in the science of nursing. The proliferation of methods of concept analysis has resulted in a critical methodological issue: Is concept analysis synonymous with concept advancement? In this article we review the commonly employed techniques of concept analysis and the products of such analyses to set the scene for a deeper discussion of concept advancement techniques. We conclude that concept analysis is ideally employed to determine the state of the science; the point from which the concept may be strategically advanced toward a higher level of scientific utility. TYPES OF CONCEPTS What are concepts? Before launching a discussion of analytic techniques, it is useful to describe a conceptualization of concepts. Concepts are mental abstractions or units of meaning derived to represent some aspect or element of the human experience (Chinn & Kramer, 1995; King, 1988). It is important to keep in mind that concepts are manifested in phenomena but that they never assume a concrete form; a concept is a mental image, not the thing or behavior itself (Walker & Avant, 1995). For example, the classic exercise of asking students to play word games involving a thing (e.g., What is a table?) attempts to draw their thinking into abstraction to demonstrate how the concept is a unit of meaning rather than a material entity that appears before them. Concepts are second order expressions; they package complex sensible or precognitive meaning with cognitive processing into some form of categorical meaning (Merleau-Ponty, 1998). Concepts are brought forth through language; they are embedded in discourse (see Merleau-Ponty, 1998; Rodgers, 2000a; or Walker & Avant, 1995). Concepts are not purely a scientific endeavor; rather concept formation is a natural human process that occurs through being in the world with others. But there is an important differentiation of concepts that is critical to this discussion. Ordinary or everyday concepts are not the same as scientific concepts (for this discussion, see Mitcham, 1999; Morse, 2000; Rodgers, 200Oa). Ordinary concepts are those used by people in everyday life. They have a common meaning, which may be implicit but is understandable within that cultural unit. …