The central role of practice in nursing research: Beyond the modern versus postmodern discourse

Abstract

Nursing is a practice-based profession with a unique science and body of knowledge that comprises “paradigms, frameworks, and theories” [1]. Over the centuries, the objective (modernism) way of knowing, informed by positivist philosophy and quantitative research method, has defined traditional sciences. According to Allmark (2003), objectivism views scientific knowledge as being gained solely through objective observation, measuring, and quantifying, with a view of predicting and generalizing [2].