EXPLORING THE THEORETICAL BASIS OF NURSING USING ADVANCED TECHNIQUES OF CONCEPT ANALYSIS

In this article, the traditional methods of concept development are cr itiqued, and alternative methods that use qualitative methods of inqui ry are presented. Variations of concept development techniques appropr iate to the maturity of the concept being explored are then described, including methods for concept delineation, concept comparison, concep t clarification, concept correction, and concept identification. To il lustrate the application of concept development methods to nursing the ory, a research program to delineate the construct of comfort is descr ibed.