NURS 500 Theoretical Foundations Assignment: Theory and Research

This assignment, focusing on the theoretical foundations of nursing research (NURS 500), explores the fundamental concepts of theory, practice, and research. It begins by defining and differentiating between descriptive, relational, and explanatory theories. The assignment highlights the characteristics and uses of each type of theory, providing examples of how each is applied in research. Descriptive theory is presented as the foundation for understanding and describing phenomena. Relational theory is explained as a means to establish connections between different aspects of a phenomenon. Lastly, explanatory theory is examined in terms of its role in identifying causes and effects within research. Each theory type's relationship to research methodologies is also detailed, with examples such as descriptive research, correlational research, and experimental research. The assignment is designed to help students understand the core principles of theoretical foundations in the context of nursing research.

Running head: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS 1
Theoretical Foundations
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Theoretical Foundation
Introduction
To further explain the relationship between theory and research, it is important to first
explore various research designs. Most importantly, different theories lead to the development of
different research designs. The types of theories that have often been used are descriptive,
relational and explanatory theories.
Descriptive theory
The descriptive theory observes and summarizes the events and characteristics that share
something in common (Glaser & Strauss, 2017. The descriptive theory leads to the development
of descriptive research design. Deceptive research design generates and tests descriptive theories.
For instance, a type of descriptive research called exploratory research is what describe the
existing characteristics and relationship between phenomena. Therefore, following the above
information, it evident that descriptive theories strongly relates to descriptive research design.
Relational theory
Relational theory brings out the relationship between different parts of the phenomenon
(Cervone & Pervin, 2015). However, this theory is often used when the development and
validation of descriptive theory have been done. In relation to research and practice, a relational
theory greatly applies to correlational research (Borman, 2017). This research uses empirical
methods to measure the dimensions of phenomena while still in their original state. They also
show how two or more characteristics can occur together.
Explanatory theory
The explanatory theory is used to address the causes and the effects of changes that occur
to phenomena. Furthermore, they predict the relationships between different dimensions

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(George, 2019). Explanatory theory much applies in experimental research. Experimental
research defines the causes of particular outcomes just like the case in explanatory theory which
define the reasons behind changes in phenomena.

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References
Borman, W. C. (2017). Implications of Personality Theory and Research for the Rating of.
Performance measurement and theory, 25, 127.
Cervone, D., & Pervin, L. A. (2015). Personality, binder-ready version: theory and research.
John Wiley & Sons, 17(27-44), 65.
George, A. L. (2019). Case studies and theory development: The method of structured, focused
comparison. In Alexander L. George: A Pioneer in Political and Social Sciences (pp.
191-214). Springer, Cham.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2017). Discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative
research. Routledge, 42(33-37), 35.