NR 501 Nursing Theory Exam
Questions and Answers
Assumptions - Answer- beliefs about phenomena one must accept as true to accept
a theory about the phenomena as true.
Borrowed or shared theory - Answer- a theory developed in another discipline that is
not adapted to the worldview and practice of nursing.
Concept - Answer- the elements or components of a phenomenon necessary to
understand the phenomenon. They are abstract and derived from impressions the
human mind recieves about phenomena through sensing the environment.
Conceptual model/conceptual framework - Answer- a set of interrelated concepts
that symbolically represents and conveys a mental image of a phenomenon.
Conceptual models of nursing identify concepts and describe their relationships to
the phenomena of central concern to the discipline.
Construct - Answer- the most complex type of concept. They comporise more than
one concept and are typically built or constructed by the theorist or philosopher to fit
a purpose. "Concept" and "Construct" are often used interchangeably, but all
constructs are concepts, but not all concepts are constructs.
Empirical indicator - Answer- Very specific and concrete identifiers of concepts. They
are actual instructions, experimental conditions, and procedures used to observe or
measure the concept(s) of a theory.
Epistemology - Answer- theories of knowledge or how people come to have
knowledge; in nursing, it is the study of the origins of nursing knowledge.
Hypotheses - Answer- tentative suggestions that a specific relationship exists
between two concepts or propositions. As the hypothesis is repeatedly confirmed, it
progresses to an empirical generalization and ultimately to a law.
Knowledge - Answer- an awareness or perception of reality acquired through insight,
learning, or investigation.
Laws - Answer- proposition about the relationship between concepts in a theory that
has been repeatedly validated. They are highly generalizable.
Metaparadigm - Answer- the global perspective that subsumes more specific views
and approaches to the central concepts with which the discipline is concerned. It is
an ideology within which the theories, knowledge, and processes for knowing find
meaning and coherence.
Middle range theory - Answer- a part of a disciplines's concerns related to particular
topics which is narrower than that of broad-range or grand theories.
Questions and Answers
Assumptions - Answer- beliefs about phenomena one must accept as true to accept
a theory about the phenomena as true.
Borrowed or shared theory - Answer- a theory developed in another discipline that is
not adapted to the worldview and practice of nursing.
Concept - Answer- the elements or components of a phenomenon necessary to
understand the phenomenon. They are abstract and derived from impressions the
human mind recieves about phenomena through sensing the environment.
Conceptual model/conceptual framework - Answer- a set of interrelated concepts
that symbolically represents and conveys a mental image of a phenomenon.
Conceptual models of nursing identify concepts and describe their relationships to
the phenomena of central concern to the discipline.
Construct - Answer- the most complex type of concept. They comporise more than
one concept and are typically built or constructed by the theorist or philosopher to fit
a purpose. "Concept" and "Construct" are often used interchangeably, but all
constructs are concepts, but not all concepts are constructs.
Empirical indicator - Answer- Very specific and concrete identifiers of concepts. They
are actual instructions, experimental conditions, and procedures used to observe or
measure the concept(s) of a theory.
Epistemology - Answer- theories of knowledge or how people come to have
knowledge; in nursing, it is the study of the origins of nursing knowledge.
Hypotheses - Answer- tentative suggestions that a specific relationship exists
between two concepts or propositions. As the hypothesis is repeatedly confirmed, it
progresses to an empirical generalization and ultimately to a law.
Knowledge - Answer- an awareness or perception of reality acquired through insight,
learning, or investigation.
Laws - Answer- proposition about the relationship between concepts in a theory that
has been repeatedly validated. They are highly generalizable.
Metaparadigm - Answer- the global perspective that subsumes more specific views
and approaches to the central concepts with which the discipline is concerned. It is
an ideology within which the theories, knowledge, and processes for knowing find
meaning and coherence.
Middle range theory - Answer- a part of a disciplines's concerns related to particular
topics which is narrower than that of broad-range or grand theories.
