Concept Analysis

A concept is the glue that ties conceptual frameworks, models, and theories together. The concepts in a framework or theory relate to each other in some way. This is what gives them meaning. A concept analysis is an exploration of how a concept ties a framework together.

Instructions:

Select one of the following four concepts for your paper: trust, hope, suffering, uncertainty. Once you’ve chosen your concept, complete the following:

Determine the aim or purpose of your analysis; what do you want to accomplish by conducting this concept analysis? Answer the questions “Why am I doing this?” and “Why is this relevant to nursing knowledge and nursing science?”
Conduct your literature review by identifying all uses of the term that you can discover. Answer “What are the known conceptualizations?”
Locate and use a minimum of 3 dictionary definitions, 1 thesaurus entry, and 5 scholarly references from the nursing literature (you may use non-nursing literature, if necessary). Combined, these references will be the basis for identifying and defining attributes of your selected concept.
Determine the critical or defining attributes of the concept by identifying what each instance or use of the term has in common with the other uses. The more scholarly references you locate and use, the easier it is to determine critical attributes of a concept.
Define the 4 cases using the critical attributes:
Construct a model case or a real-life scenario that uses the concept and includes all critical attributes of the concept. Explain how you use each critical attribute. This case should be an accurate representation or model of your concept.
Construct a contrary case or one that is opposite of the concept. Support the claims you make by explaining how and why the contrary case does not contain any of the critical attributes of your concept.
Construct a borderline case or one that is related to the concept but is not actually an example of the concept. Support the claims you make by explaining how and why the borderline case differs from the model and contrary cases (i.e., does not contain all of the critical attributes of your concept, etc.)
Construct an invented case or fictitious scenario that uses the concept and includes all of the critical attributes. Explain how you use each of the critical attributes.
Identify related concepts; provide a list of terms that are related to or similar to the concept.
Identify an inaccurate use of the concept. Provide an example of how the concept is used in a way that is improper or incorrect.
Identify concept antecedents and consequences. This should include a description of (1) concepts or traits that precede (antecedent) the existence of the concept and (2) concepts or traits that follow (consequence) the existence of the concept. An antecedent cannot be one of the attributes, but a consequence may be.
The paper should be written in a professional, scholarly manner (i.e., no errors in APA formatting, spelling, or grammar). As a guideline, the body of the paper (excluding title page and reference list) should be about 6 pages in length.