Abstract
The notion of paradigm has become increasingly important in nursing discourse. It is proposed that this concept is not always properly used in the scientific literature. The aim of this article was to elucidate the use of the notion of paradigm in nursing research. Two Nordic studies are used as examples. It may be argued that there are some serious mistakes made concerning the notion of paradigm in these studies: The authors lean upon both Kuhn's and Tbrnebohm's concepts, although they are mutually incompatible. Kuhn's notion of paradigm is wrongly interpreted and used. Finally, Tbrnebohm's theory has not previously been scientifically tested. These mistakes support the idea that the notion of paradigm as a basis for nursing research does not enhance the development of nursing as an independent discipline and science.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.