Sources of Knowledge
Nursing Theories
Quantitative
Qualitative
Potpourri
100

I am passed down from generation to generation

What is traditional knowledge

100

Theory of universal application

General systems theory

100

Aims to accurately and systematically describe a poplulation

Descriptive research

100

Uses primary and secondary historical data to study the meaning of past events, interpret facts and explain their causes and effects

Historical

100

Variable that is not affected by other variables in the study

Independent variable

200

I come from an expert and am accepted as the truth based on a person's perceived expertise

Authoritative knowledge

200

Adjustment of living matter to other living things and environments

Adaptation theory

200

Measures the statistical relationship between two variables without manipulating them. 

Correlational research

200

Collecting data through observations and interviews to understand how people and societies function

Ethnography

200

This type of reasoning starts with the conclusion and goes from specific to general. For example a provider is notified of the patient's change in condition and a new prescription is received for an antibiotic.

Inductive reasoning

300

I am obtained through the scientific method

Scientific knowledge

300

Orderly and predictable growth and development from conception to death

Developmental theory
300

Aims to evaluate the impact of an intervention without randomization

Quasi-experimental

300

Focuses on an individual's lived experiences within the world

Phenomenology 

300
Concept or idea that you test through research and experiments; an educated guess

Hypothesis

400

The fact that the Earth rotates on its axis as it revolves around the sun, is this type of knowledge

Scientific knowledge

400

Break whole things into parts to see how they work together

General systems theory

400

Study conducted with a scientific approach using two sets of variables.

Experimental

400

Involves collecting and analyzing data to create a theory; based in the discovery of how people describe their own reality

Grounded theory

400

The "P" in PICO stands for one of these 3 things

Patient, population or problem of interest

500

A nursing preceptor teaching a student nurse how to insert an IV correctly is an example of this type of knowledge

Authoritative knowledge

500

Nursing theories serve these 3 areas

Research, education and practice

500

Survey

Correlational

500

Commonly used in social and behavioral sciences

Ethnography

500

This type of reasoning is the process of drawing valid inferences. For example: All dogs have ears; golden retrievers are dogs, therefore golden retrievers have ears. 

Deductive reasoning

M
e
n
u