Outline

o List the sources of human knowledge

o Discuss the sources of human knowledge
o Identify the characteristics of scientific research
o Discuss the purposes of scientific method of
learning
o Highlight limitations in scientific approach
Sources of Human Knowledge
What do you think???

Structured

Unstructured
 Experience
Authority
Borrowing

Structured
Intuition Tradition
Unstructured

Role Modeling Tenacity

Trail & Error

Tradition
oOne generation passes knowledge to the next
oTradition can be an efficient way of learning,
although it can also limit the ability to seek new
ways of doing things.

Example: shift report, nursing notes

Tradition…

"This is the way we have always done it."

Authority
oEstablished belief based on prominence or
importance of source
oThe authorize person presents new
information/opinion/suggestion
Example: Biostatistician help in data analysis
Experience
oExperience means practical involvement in an activity, event
etc.
oWithout experience a person would have to relearn a
procedure every time it was performed.

Example: Taking a blood pressure measurement for first

time and then after practicing it
Trail and Error
oAlternatives are tried successively until a solution to a
problem is found
oMaking mistakes or repeatedly trying various ways of
accomplishing something

Example: May patients dislike the taste of potassium

chloride solution. Nurses try to disguise the
taste of the medication in various ways until
one method meets with the approval of the
patient.
Intuition
oIntuition means acquiring knowledge by ourselves

oThe knowledge is incorporated so deeply within, that it is

difficult to bring it consciously to the surface and express it in
a logical manner.

Examples from the class

 Borrowing
oThe use of knowledge from other disciplines to guide
nursing practice e.g. medicine, sociology, psychology etc.
oIt works when the borrowed knowledge is integrated into
nursing body of knowledge.

E.g. some nurses have used the medical model to guide their
nursing practice, thus focusing on diagnosis and treatment of
disease.
 Role modeling
o Watchingand imitating the behaviors of the expert nurse is
another way nurses gain knowledge.

o Role models include admired teachers, expert clinicians,

researchers or individuals who inspire students through
their
Example
Mentorship is a form of role-modeling in which the expert nurse
serves as teacher, sponsor, guide & counselor for the novice nurse.
Tenacity
Acceptance of proposition because one always believed it to
be true
Belief developed simply because a person is persistently
hearing it the way he started believing in it.

Example: Above 30 men can only become good drivers

Sources of Human Knowledge

Inductive
Scientific
Structured Approach

Unstructured

Deductive
 Deductive Approach
o The first systematic approach to reasoning attributed to
Aristotle (4th century BC) and Greeks

o Moving from general to specific.

oWe might begin with thinking up a theory about our topic of

interest; then we narrow that down into more specific
hypotheses that we can test.
 Example1. Top-down
logic

Premises/General
• All human beings experience loss
• All adolescents are human beings

Conclusion/Specific
• Therefore, all adolescents experience loss

Example2.
Premises/General
• If we assume that separation anxiety occurs in hospitalized children
Conclusion/Specific
• Children in Memorial Hospital will manifest symptoms of stress.
Inductive Approach
o Francis bacon ( 1620) advocated direct
observation of the phenomena, arriving at
conclusions or generalizations through the evidence
of many individual observations

o Moving from specific observations to broader

generalizations and theories.

o Theory development represents this type of

reasoning in which different concepts are joined to
make a whole.
 Bottom-up

Example 1.
logic

Particular Instances/Specific
• A headache is an altered level of health that is stressful
• A terminal illness is an altered level of health that is stressful

General Statement
• Therefore, it can be induced that all altered levels of health are stressful

Example 2.
Specific/Particular
• The nurse may observe anxious behavior of hospitalized children
(twice or thrice or all the times in peads ward of hospital XY)
General Statement
• All children exhibit anxiety when they are hospitalized
 (For induction and deduction, read more)

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-advantages-
and-disadvantages-of-using-inductive-reasoning
 Acquiring Knowledge through Nursing
Research/Scientific Approach
 Unstructured ways of acquiring knowledge are important in
nursing but are inadequate in providing a scientific knowledge
base for nursing practice.

The knowledge needed for practice has to be both specific &

holistic as well as process oriented and outcome focused.

This means a variety of research methods are needed to

generate such knowledge.
cont.…
oThe scientific method is most advanced objective
means of acquiring knowledge.

It is characterized by systematic procedures, that although

not without fault, seek to limit the possibility for error and
minimize the likelihood that any bias or opinion by
researcher might influence the results or the knowledge
gained.
Scientific Research:
Characteristics
 Order/System

Empiricism Control

Theory Generalization
 Order
Systematic prescribed order intended to have reproducibility
and confidence in the results. e.g.
 Problem identification & definition
 Predictions of outcome
 Research Design
 Analysis
 Conclusion
 Control
o Intrying to isolate relationships among phenomena,
scientists must control phenomena and factors not
under study.

Example: if a scientist studies relationship between

diet and heart disease, other contributing factors
need to be controlled.
Life Co-
style morbids
 Empiricism
oEvidence rooted in objective reality and gathered
directly or indirectly through the human senses.

o Empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge

comes only or primarily from sensory experience and
so the research brings up the results that are likely to
be acceptable to the sensory experiences and
evidences.
 The time also
plays a vital
Generalization role in
generalization

No research is ever done just to benefit the subjects,

in order to have value, it must be generalizable to a
wider population

You must ensure that the sample group is as truly

representative of the whole population as possible
 Theory development relies on
research, and research relies on
theory.
Theory (Fawcett & Downs, 1986)

oTheories are manner of organizing, integrating and

deriving abstract conceptualization about the manner
in which phenomena are interrelated

oTheories are strongly linked with concepts of

generalizability

oA theory connects events into a unified web.

Purposes of Scientific
Research/nursing research

The knowledge generated through

research is essential to provide a
scientific base for description,
explanation, prediction and
control of nursing practice.
Description/Exploration
It involves identifying the nature and attributes of
nursing phenomena & sometimes the relationships
among these phenomena.
Nurses describe what exists in nursing practice and
discover new information.

e.g. Does bedsores occur often in XYZ hospital? If yes, in which

ward and why?
 Explanation
oExplanation involves clarifying the relationship
among variables and identifying why certain events
occur.
e.g. elderly patients’ risk of developing pressure ulcers is significantly related
to their level of mobility and the type of support surface on which they are
placed.

oDetermining relationship among variables provide a

basis for conducting studies for the purpose of
predicting and controlling patient outcomes.
Prediction
oPrediction helps to estimate the probability of a specific
outcome in a given situation.

oKnowledge of prediction helps nurses to anticipate the

effects of nursing interventions on patients & families.

e.g. how support surface and mobility level influence the

occurrence of bedsores?
Control & Prescription
oNurses can prescribe certain interventions to help patients &
families to achieve high-quality outcomes.
e.g. nurses can prescribe back massage to promote comfort and relaxation
in hospice patients. Also, they instruct the patient to walk, and use a support
surface etc.
Purposes of Scientific Approach

To observe in order to
know
To control in order to
practice and prescribe

To know in order to
predict

To predict in order
to control
Limitations of the Scientific
Approach/Research
 Moral &
Ethical
problems

Control Human
Problems
Limitations complexity

Measurement
problems
Moral or Ethical Problems

Issues related to values or ethics are not preventable

in scientific approach
Example: the issue of euthanasia etc.
Human Complexity
Each human being is unique with respect to his/her
personality, social environment, mental capacities,
values, and life style.

Human beings are

the central topic of
investigation
Measurement Problems
The tools/instrument may not accurately measure
the psychological dimension of human activity.
Control Problems

The degree of control is not always possible

especially with human beings

Extraneous factors
can always be there
Challenges in Pakistan

Public MIS/ health

Interest/ records
awareness

Researcher Funds/re-
Obligation/ sources
competence
References
oBasvanthappa BT (2011). Essentials of Nursing Research, (1st
ed) chapter 1, Jaypee. Available online:
http://www.jaypeedigital.com/Chapter/ChapterDetail/44882

oBurns, N. & Grove, S.K (2007). Research problems, purposes,

and hypotheses in Understanding Nursing Research, building
an Evidence-Based Practice (4th ed). St. Louis: Saunders
oFawcett, J & Downs, F (1986). The Relationship Between
Theory And Research, Norwalk, CT: Appleton Century Crofts
oLecture Notes on Sources of Acquiring Knowledge. Retrieved from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18583135/Methods-of-Acquiring-Knowledge-Over#scribd
A person who never made a
mistake never tried anything
new.——Albert Einstein