Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 1998 Oct 10;317(7164):1007-10.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.317.7164.1007.

The importance of theories in health care

P Alderson  1
Affiliations
Review

The importance of theories in health care

P Alderson. BMJ. .
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure
Figure
Positivism: the detached scientist examines parts isolated from their context and searches for universal laws
Figure
Figure
Positivism in social medicine: more account is taken of social backgrounds (the shading), but mainly as separate characteristics or behaviours to modify
Figure
Figure
Functionalism: society is or should be united, functioning as efficiently as a beehive to everyone’s benefit
Figure
Figure
Social construction: relationships (the arrows) and social context (the shading) partly construct and are part of people’s identity
Figure
Figure
Postmodernism: the foggy shading indicates how once-clear definitions and differences become problems to study, not truths to assume
Figure
Figure
Critical theory: some groups are more powerful than others, and they all compete for resources like trees in a crowded forest
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Popper K. The logic of scientific discovery. London: Hutchinson; 1959.
    1. Anand K, Sippel W, Aynsley-Green A. randomised trial of fentalyn anaesthesia. Lancet. 1987;i:243–248. - PubMed
    1. Descartes R. Treatise of man [1664]. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1972. p. 34. . (Translator T Hall.)
    1. Royal College of Surgeons of England; College of Anaesthetists. Report of the working party on pain after surgery. London: RCS; 1990.
    1. Parsons T. The social system. Glencoe, IL: Free Press; 1951.