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This Guide was created by Carolyn Swidrak (retired).
"Concept analysis is a strategy used for examining concepts for their semantic structure. Although there are several methods for conducting concept analysis, all of them have the purpose of determining the defining characteristics of the concept under study. Some uses of a concept analysis are refining and clarifying concepts in theory, practice, and research and arriving at precise theoretical and operational definitions for research or for instrument development." (Fitzpatrick, 2018, p. 129).
Source: Fitzpatrick, J. (2018). Encyclopedia of nursing research (4th ed.). Springer Publishing Company.
Dictionaries:
Thesaurus:
Encyclopedias:
CINAHL Ultimate is the new definitive resource for nursing and allied health research, providing full text for more of the most used journals in the CINAHL index than any other database. It covers more than 50 nursing specialties and includes quick lessons, evidence-based care sheets, CEU modules and research instruments.
Search Strategy:
Use the below terms with your concept, using the AND Boolean operator:
Disclaimer: These are only suggestions on how you might search for your concept in the databases. Always check in with your professor to make sure you understand the assignment.
Have you been asked to search in multiple disciplines for your concept? Use these tips below!
Think about what disciplines fit within your concept. For instance, Compassion Fatigue may be defined in the psychology or social work fields. I can use these subject-specific databases to find articles in these fields:
This database indexes and abstracts articles from periodicals published in the U.S. and elsewhere plus the full-text of selected periodicals. Subjects covered include addiction studies, community health and medical care, corrections, criminal justice, economics, environmental studies, and urban studies.
Other databases to consider in other disciplines:
This database covers scholarly research and information to meet the needs of education students, professionals, and policy makers. This massive file offers the world's largest and most complete collection of full-text education journals, and encompasses an international array of English-language periodicals, monographs, yearbooks, and more.
MEDLINE Ultimate offers medical professionals and researchers access to unmatched evidence-based and peer-reviewed full-text content from more of the top biomedical journals. It also offers more international journal coverage than any other MEDLINE database.
SPORTDiscus with Full Text includes thorough coverage in the subjects most relevant to sports medicine, fitness & nutrition.
You can also search Interdisciplinary databases, like Academic Search Complete and PowerSearch (from our homepage). Make sure you are including the discipline as part of your search terms. Example:
What are Empirical Referents?
Empirical referents are "the means by which you can recognize or measure the defining characteristics or attributes" (Walker & Avant, 2010, p. 168). Essentially, they are measurement tools or instruments that help to measure the concept.
Ex. Concept: Resiliency
Empirical Referent: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Connor & Davidson, 2003)
How do I find them?
For more information on how to find these tools, check out our Research Guide on Research Instruments (Tests & Measures).
Source: Walker, L. O. & Avant, K. C. (2010). Concept analysis. In Strategies for theory construction in nursing (6th Ed., pp. 157-177). Pearson.
