COMBINING STORIES AND NUMBERS - A METHODOLOGIC APPROACH FOR A CRITICAL NURSING SCIENCE

The critical paradigm is increasingly being recognized as an appropria te perspective for the development of nursing knowledge. while differe nt research approaches including feminist, neo-Marxist, and participat ory research have been described, all share the goals of empowerment, emancipation, and change. As a relatively new world-view for nursing, the concept of a critical nursing science faces much the same resistan ce as the interpretive paradigm did a decade ago. This article reviews the aims and assumptions of the critical paradigm; discusses the meri ts of combining stories and numbers for the agenda of change; and, usi ng examples from our research, describes three strategies for combinin g stories and numbers in the critical paradigm.