Statement analysis and synthesis

This presentation was prepared by:

Under Supervision of
eh’Dr.Rami MasaD
At the end of this lecture we will be able to:

• Define the statement analysis, synthesis, and

derivation.
• Differentiate between its types.
• Identify its purposes and uses.
• Apply its steps.
• Utilize its advantages and limitation.
Definitions:

• Statement : is an important basic element in

any attempt to build a scientific body of
knowledge.
• Analysis: is on approach to theory building , in
analysis one clarifies , refine and sharpens
concept.
what is statement analysis?

Is rigorous process of examining

statements to determine if the statement
is useful, informative, and logically
correct
(1)
• As in all analysis , statement analysis include:

1- the examination of each part and its

relationship to each other part and to the whole.

2- focuses on each concept within a statement,

the relation each concept to each other concept,
and the role the statement plays as a whole.
 Types of statement :

• Relational Statement:
is the skeleton of theory.

• Non relational Statement :

is the way by which the theorist clarifies
meanings in the theory.
 Non Relational Statement

• Existence

• Definition
 Existence

• Provides background and explanation before

position relation.

• It is not definition and do not describe the

characteristic of the concept.
• Its simply are an assertion that something is
so.
Cont..
• Identifies a concept or an object and claims its
Existence.

• Can be accurate or in accurate

For example:
“That object is called a refrigerator” is an
existence statement.
 Definition

• Describes the characteristics of a concept. It

may be :
Theoretical definition.
Operational definition.

• It is useful in theory by theory provide the

basis for clear communication between the
theorist and the reader.
 Theoretical definition

• Refers to the definition found in dictionaries it

is the academic or universal meaning given to
ward or group of wards it is the meaning
under stood by many people . (3)

• one that is abstract and useful to the theory

but with no empirical referents named.
Example:
• Weight: a measurement of gravitational force
acting on an object
 Operational definition:

• refer to the way or the meaning used in the

study, if study will use an instrument to measure
,then the definition will depend on what the test
will measure .
(3)

Example:
• weight of an object in terms of the numbers that
appear when that object is placed on a weighing
scale. The weight then, is whatever results from
following the (weight) measurement procedure.
 Statement analysis uses:

• Provide information about structure and

function of statement under consideration.
• Determine any defects.
• Correct and modify the statement.
• Build anew theory.
 Selecting the statement

• First step appears to be the easiest but ,in fact, it

may prove very difficult because:
 the first :
o it involve commitment to the idea behind the
statement.
o Any one attempting statement analysis should
have clearly in mind what reason he has for doing
so.
o perhaps you have some doubt about the
statement or perhaps the idea excites you and
you wish to examine the structure for soundness
before you refute it or act upon it in some way.
 Cont..
The second difficulty:
Is the problem which arises in some verbal or
written theories: a lack of specificity of
relational statement.(Read the statement
carefully).
the third consideration in selecting statement
for analysis is that it be relevant.(Select a
major rather than a minor statement).
• Carefully, reduce the statement into simple,
shorter, manageable statements.
2- Simplify the statement (cont.,)
Classify the statement

Basic classification of statement:

1) Existence statement.
2) Definition.
• Descriptive
• Stipulative
• operational
3) Relational.
A- Existence statement:

• Claims existence of concepts.

• Is not definitions.

• Does not describe characteristics of the concepts.

• Can be accurate or inaccurate.

B- Definition statement includes:
Stipulative :
 existing terms are useful in making theoretical arguments, or
stating specific cases.
 Describes the term in such a way that it has a very specific use in
the theory, a use which is not always the same as the general
meaning of the term .
 Cannot be considered either accurate or inaccurate because it is
specifically formulated only for use in the way the author of the
theory has decreed.
Example:
For the purposes of argument, we will define a "student" to be "a
person under 18 enrolled in a local school."
Descriptive:
 describes the accepted meaning for a term
already in use.
 It describe the term in other term which are
already understood by the reader.
 In generally considered accurate.
Example
A descriptive definition of “kitten” is
“A kitten is the biological offspring of an adult
female.”
A stipulative definition of “kitten” is
“for the purpose of this study , a kitten shall be
defined as any healthy female offspring of a
healthy female cat which is less than 8 weeks
old.”
Operational:
Must be so precise that it can be used
repetitively by different scientists and still obtain
objective result.
Example:
In previous example the operational definition
might be “ for the purposes of this study, a kitten
shall be any healthy offspring of a healthy female
cat weighting between 4-12 bounds and not less
than 3 days or more than 12 days.”
C- relational statement:

• Specify relationships between concepts.

• May be well supported empirically and logically so
It functions as a law or an axiom within the theory.
• May be so well supported empirically and logically
so It serve as a proposition or empirical
generalization.
• It may be any hypothesis which is as yet
unsupported by data even if it may appear
reasonable logically.
 4- Examine the concept within the
statement

• Identify concepts by scanning the statement for

the major expressed ideas.

• Examine concepts by 2 actions:

1- Determine definition of Terms that reflect

the concepts

2- Determine if concepts they are defined are

theoretically valid
5-Specify relationship by type, sign, and symmetry

• It is that step in which theorist will specify

exactly which type of relationship the
statement exemplifies.
• Use symbols to diagram relationships.

Causal

Conditional Concurrent

TYPES

Time order Probabilistic

Necessary
Type:
• cause statement:
Is one in which the first concept is said to be the
“cause” of the other .
Generally deduced from laws.
It is helpful to use symbols for the concept in
statements so that theorist don’t become
confused by the content of the concept during
analysis.
 Cause statement cont..

For example:
raising the temperature of gas held under
constant pressure will increase its volume.
One event cause the other.
Using the symbol (GP for gas under pressure, T
for temperature, GV for gas volume)
The diagram is :
If T PG then always GV
• Probabilistic :
Usually derived from statistical data.
They assert that if one event occurs, the second
event probably will so.
Example:
Cigarette smoking (CS) is highly likely to lead to
lung cancer (LC)
If CS then probably LC .
• Concurrent:
Relationship demonstrate if that if event A occurs,
event B also occurs.
There may or may not be any correlation or
causation between the tow events, they simply exist
together.
Example:
One study found the nurse (N),have personality
characteristic which are highly feminine rather than
masculine.
Both (N) and (FP) occur together it make no other
claim.
If N, also FP
• Conditional:
Demonstrate a relationship between tow
concept or events but which requires the
presence of a third concept or events before the
relationship can come about.
Example :
Study show the effect of sodium bicarbonate on
intraventricular hemorrhage in premature
infant(1980)
• Time-order :
Indicate that some amount of time intervenes
between the first concept or event and the
second.
Example:
If a person experiences numerous stressful life
events (SLE) within the year the likelihood of
that person becoming ill (I).
If (SLE), Then later I .
• Necessary:
Relation that shown by a statement which
indicates that one and only one concept or event
can lead to the second concept or event.
Example:
Roy’s (1976)and Neuman's (1980) models of
nursing have stated that adaption (A) occur as a
response to stressors (S) . Stressors then become
necessary before adaptation occur.
If and only if S, then A
• Sufficient relationship :
 Reflected in statements in which the first
concept or event and the second concept or
event are related regardless of any thing else.
 The presence of first concept guarantees the
presence of the second concept.
 Example :
Using the stressor/ adaptation .
If S, then A regardless of any thing else.
SIGN :
Determining the sign of relationships is
reasonably easy.
Fall on one of this three categories :
A. Positive (concept vare in the same direction)
B. Negative (Concepts vary in different direction)
C. Unknown(If you have no information about the
way the concepts vary)
 Symmetrical
• Two ways relationship
• Each concept affect the other
• Example: High attachment
scores were associated with
low anxiety scores and high
anxiety scores were associated
with low attachment scores.
At Ax
Asymmetrical
• One way relationship
• Relationship only goes from
one concept to the next but
is never reciprocated.
• Example: Anxiety is
negatively related to group
cohesiveness.
• Ax Gc
 6- Examine the logic

• Examine the logic for origin.

• Examine the logic for reasonableness.

• Examine the logic for adequacy.

 6- Examine the logic for origin

• Is the statement constructed deductively or

inductively?
• If it is deductive in origin Its logic is
adequate.
• If it is inductive in origin logic can’t
be judged except
after empirical
support and
comparison to
existing knowledge.
 Examine the logic for reasonableness

Ask :
• Is the statement seems reasonable?

• Is the statement gives what we already know

on the subject?

• Does the statement makes sense in the light

of existing knowledge?
 Examine the logic for adequacy

• Draw a simple diagram labeling concepts by

letters or numbers and determine types and
signs that are relevant.

• Note: if you are unable to do any one of the

three examination , that mean there is some
fault in the statement.
 7- determine testability

• The final step in the analysis is to determine if

the statement is empirically testable .
• Determine whether or not there are
operational measures which can be used in
the “real ward” to obtain data which will
support or refute the statement.
 Advantages of statement analysis

• Examine relationships systemically.

• Examine the structure and function of
statements.
• Discover other linkages important to final
theoretical formulations.
 Limitation for statement analysis
• Difficulty of analyzing one statement apart
from the whole theory.

• Loss of valuable information.

• Difficulty determining logic of statement when

it is removed from the theory.

• It dose take time and it is rigorous.

Statement synthesis
 definition of statement synthesis

• Is a strategy that is aimed at specifying

relationship between two or more concepts
based on evidence.
• Source of evidence:
1) Direct clinical observations of individual.
2) Statistical information collected from large
numbers of people.
3) Library material reporting complete research.
 Direct clinical observations

• The first sources of evidence, a thoughtful series

of observation may be the basis of interrelating
concept.
For example :
Nurse-clinician noticed that elderly patient were
more cooperative when certain type of interview
approach used were used with them.
Statement“ elderly patient cooperativeness
increased if they encouraged to talk about their
life event”
 Statistical information
• The second source of evidence Uses computer
technology to compress many individual observation
or measurements of patient in to quantitative
indices, such as correlation coefficient. It is useful in
collapsing large amount of gathered information into
more interpreted form.
Example:
Supposes correlation of 0.5 was found to exist
between cigarette smoking and type(A)of cancer.
This statistical in formation could be interpreted for:
Statement “cigarette smoking is related to form (A) of
cancer in human.”
 Library material reporting

Final source, used when theorist is interested in

constructing statement about topic on which
much research has been done .
 Purpose of statement synthesis

• The purpose of statement synthesis is to

develop from observation of phenomena one
or more statement about relationship that is
exist between those phenomena.
• choosing statement synthesis as a strategy for
theory construction.
 Procedure for statement synthesis

• Three broad category of statement synthesis:

1. Qualitative
2. Quantitative
3. Literary
1. Qualitative :
• Do not use measurement.
• Fixable or modifiable approach utilized in data
collection.
• Typically rely on interview (listening and
questioning) and observation(watching) as
source of data.
• Widely used in nursing theory construction.
Qualitative cont.,
• Popular version of field research .
• Basic assumption of the field method is that
the theorist can gain a better understanding
of phenomena when began from general idea
about it.
 Quantitative methods
• Measurement of variables on numerical scale.
• Four type of quantitative research design were
identified:
1. Single subject experimental.
2. Single subject non experimental.
3. Group experimental.
4. Group non experimental.
• Each one of these involve the collection and
analysis of numerical data.
 Quantitative methods

• Analysis of data in this method facilitated by

statistical calculation such as means, standard
deviation, percentage, correlation coefficient.
 Quantitative methods

• Single subject design :

It mean: *experimental
1) the careful analysis of data collected from
only one individual.
2) The analysis of data from individual subjects
in the context of group design.
*none experimental
Identify relationships between variables for
individual persons.
• Single subject design :
It prevent the masking of individual pattern
relationship that can occur when data from
many subjects are pooled together.
Example:
Below data show mean anxiety level for 4
patients prior to exploratory surgery.
Experimental single designs
*have been used to document the effect of
nursing interventions in diverse situations.
* Limited in external validity or generalizability.
• None experimental :
• Examining data on a single-subject basis and
comparing this with the group patterns which
are clinically important.
Statement derivations

it is a strategy for developing a set of

statements about a phenomenon by
using an analogy.
• Derived statements will share a common
structure or contents features with original
statement
• Identifying an analogy or likeness between
two phenomena in two different fields is the
basis of statement derivation
 Analogy

Substantive Formal
 Example
• Any 2 close objects have 2 forces to attract then
as well as 2 forces to repel them

By Analogy

• 2 persons close together have 2 forces which

attract then as well as 2 forces which repel them
 Purposes & uses of statement
derivation
• To formulate one or more statements about
the phenomenon which is currently not well
understood

* Uses :
• No variables data base or body of literature
exists
• Current thinking is becoming outmoded &
new perspectives are needed .
 Procedures for statement derivation
• Be familiar with an exiting literature
• Critique the level & usefulness of scientific
statements on one’s topic of interest
• Determine if statement derivation is needed
to proceed
• Search other fields looking for topic of interest
• Select one or more statements from other fields
from which to begin statement derivation
• Identify the structural & content aspects of the
parent statement
• Develop new statement about the phenomenon
of interest
• Redefine the new concepts or terms in the
derived statements
Testing derived statement

Group & single subject

experimental design

Ex post facto design

Examine the existing research

literature for supporting
evidence
 Advantages of statement derivation
• It is an economical & expeditious way of
developing statements about a phenomenon
• The strategy is not limited to any discipline or
phenomenon
 Limitations of statement derivation
• It is a strategy for discovering not for
justification
• It requires independent empirical support
 Example
• Blinking functions to protect the eye from
contact and to rest the retina and the ocular
muscles (Maccia and Maciica , 1963 , p.34)

By Analogy

• Distraction function to protect from mental

stress and to rest from mental effort (p.34 )
 Summary
• Statement analysis is a process of examining
the relationship between concepts in the
statement

• Statement synthesis is an empirically based

fro constructing statements which specify the
manner in which two or more concepts are
interrelated
• The strategy encompasses a number of
diverse approaches to develop theory

• Specific methods range from field research to

quantitative to library
• Statement derivation : is a strategy which
employs an analogy as a basis for constructing
new statements about a phenomenon
• Theorist need to select parent fields
• Analogs need to be identified either in content
and / or structure
 conclusion
• Statement analysis , synthesis and derivation
is the corner stone for building or deriving
new theory
• Identification of the concepts in the statement
is very important to derive new statement
 References
• (3) Adanza, Estela G. (1995) Research methods:
Principles and Applications p.21
• Tomy, A. M. and Alligod, M. R. (2005) nursing
theorist and their work, 8th (ed), St. Louis: Mosby.
• Walker, L.O. and Avant, K.C. (1984), strategies for
theory construction in nursing, Norwalk:
Appelton-century-crofts.