Positivism as a method in nursing research
pp. 89-105
in: Philosophical issues in nursing, Berlin, Springer, 1998Abstract
This chapter tries, first of all, to make clear what positivism is. Then an attempt is made to show why positivism is deeply unsuited to much nursing research. The reasons stem partly from the fact that a great deal of nursing research centres on the mental states of patients and clients, or nurses themselves. The chapter aims to show that the objects of such enquiries seem, in principle, impossible to capture with only the conceptual resources that the positivist permits.