The strategy of conceptual mapping is used in burnout. The strategy involves incorporating the main aim of research in general conceptualization and findings. This strategy involves an understanding of Nursing research findings, and why or how the intervention should work and what happens if the intervention does not work.
The Concept Mapping for developing your Research Appalachian State University Boone article consists of different advances in helping the reader understand different variables and how they are linked to each other. The author is seen to adhere to conceptual mapping factors pinpointed by Batey. The author first tells the readers what the article will cover, thus the main concepts. Which is a review about the authors’ ideas on accumulated evidence which suggest that increased burnout and exhaustion is related to increase cardiovascular disease and similar cardiovascular related events. The author gives several mechanisms which link ill health and different metabolism factors, especially in the organizational setting. However it has also been studied outside the organizational domain.
Secondly, the author tries to explore knowledge available in relation to burnout. The author presents an overview of current knowledge in relation to burnout and the link to cardiovascular health and plausible link to the concepts. The study shows what is already known about burnouts, which until recently burnout researchers focused on how burnouts affect organizations. However, evidence on recent decades point out that the recent research has shown burnouts have negative consequences on health. Other reviews have shown the effect of burnouts on mental health. Also, recently accumulated evidence shows burnouts pose a risk to physical health, as well.
Thirdly the author adheres to Batey’s concept in that there are investigators mapping, or arrangement of ideas in terms of specific knowledge being linked to new knowledge found in the research, by the investigator. This is seen as the author knows there is a causal link between burnouts and cardiovascular diseases, but finds a greater insight as to the reason why such burnouts lead to risk of cardiovascular disease. The author explores various concepts which link the two ideas. Such concepts include sleep disturbances, deregulations of HPA axis, systemic inflammation, sleep disturbances, impaired immunity functions and blood coagulation. All these factors are linked to an excessive burnout, and conceptual analysis and evidence, shows how they are further linked to cause cardiovascular diseases.
Fourthly, Batey concept provides that an empirical study should indicate what it aims to study. The article burnout aims to study the link between cardiovascular risks and the link to burnouts. The author achieves to show conceptually that there is a link between burnout and cardiovascular diseases. The author reaches the conclusion that there is a causal link, by analyzing empirical data and the available evidence. The author also conceptualizes the finding, indicating that cardiovascular disease linked to burnouts is a raising health concern and should be addressed. The author uses has an excellent use of conceptual mapping, because the author conceptualizes the main theory, collects different evidences and conceptualize them to show different links in the problem presented. The investigator then reaches a conclusion and conceptualizes the conclusion, hence an excellent mapping which is crucial in understanding the link between burnouts and cardiovascular diseases. Final research report should include finding based on similar patterns and conceptualization of what such patterns imply, however, this is not clearly defined in the articles burnout.
Conceptual mapping can be crucial in examining the problem of burnout in my clinic. This is because I will start conceptualize what the problem is and variables which need to be examined. Once the variables are determined, going to the field requires a constant conceptualization of the theme of research through every variable that is included in the research. In nursing, King asserts that open systems of frameworks should be used in conceptualization. His conceptual framework uses a family for illustrations, where the family is the interpersonal system and to understand illnesses, interpersonal interactions come into play in the analysis. And during putting into theory the concepts, each system influences the other because fluid boundaries allow interactions. According to him personal systems are influenced by different factors including social, political and educational systems. Therefore, the theory involves inclusion of patients and families in order to make proper analysis. This is because all these parts are involved in one way, or another and should be included.
Kings concept also includes care giving as a concept which should be stressed. The care giving involves response from relatives, emotional response of the patient and the nature of the illness the patient has (Wicks, 1995). Therefore, adequate coping resources can be used in determining care giving. King provides that care giving ensures continued bonding between family members and also improve on the emotional wellbeing of the patient. Therefore, in nursing variables should be defined in a manner consistent with Kings Framework, so as to act as a test of conception framework.
Conceptual Mapping as a Theory Building Approach
Conceptual mapping can be viewed as a theory building approach for many reasons. It helps in theory building because it advances understanding of variables. According to Artinian, the most important thing in research is understanding different conceptual variables and their relationships (Artinian, 1982). The article asserts that there is a failure to conceptualize the research problem. However, there is a strategy developed to help a researcher correct the limitations, called the conceptual mapping. This conceptual mapping shows interrelationships between different variables which links both dependent and independent variables. Conceptual mapping is also helpful in clarification of the research problem.
In the same point, conceptual mapping helps in theory building because it helps in understanding concepts in experiments, helps in conceptualization and gives deep insight to the outcomes. Research published in nursing shows that after an experimental intervention is implemented, there is usually a little understanding of how the experiment works and what may have happened if the experiment did not work. This lack of understanding is attributed to lack of conceptualizations of different variables before starting the research. Similarly, the lack of conceptualization is attributed to qualitative studies focusing merely, on characteristics of social phenomena. The report then, present categories of different patterns noted during experiments or research. Therefore, such reports are just basis for the development of theories, but are not theories themselves, because they do not show relationships between different variables. Such tentative statements do not show the link between causes and consequences of identified variables.
Concept mapping is also a theory building approach because it addresses many limiting factors in the conceptual phases seen in most researches today. Artinian asserts that the conceptual phase of most researches today is characterized by many limiting features found in a research (Artinian, 1982). The article identifies the limitations or problems as follows; concept ambiguity, lack of clarity in presentation of investigators conceptual image in relation to the problem, lack of guiding objective in regards to the study, lack of interrelations between the state of knowledge and the aim of the study and lack of knowledge on the aims of the study.
Conceptual mapping is used to clarify quantitative research designs. The first conceptual map was used to help the student understand the complex relationship between thesis and quantitative data. Further, Batey provides elements of the conceptual phase as follows, phenomenon to be addressed by the study, what is already know about the segment or phenomena to be studied, investigators mapping or logical construction of phenomena in the light of knowledge and the specific knowledge, the empirical study aims to examine.
According to Novak the concept of mapping can be used as a theory building approach because knowledge is presented in some form of boxes or cycles which have lines linking different concepts. Novak concept of mapping provides that the concept maps are tools used in representing knowledge, and are enclosed in boxes or circles of some type. And the concepts are indicated by a linking line which connects the two concepts. The linking words specify the relationship between the concepts (Novak & Cañas, 2008). According to Novak, concept is a label designating events, records or objects. Concepts are mostly labeled by words or other symbols. On the other hand, propositions contain concepts connected using linking phrases and words, hence creating a meaningful statement. Accordingly, according to Revell meaningful maps form concepts which in turn form prepositions (Hunter, 2012). Another concept of maps is that they follow a certain hierarchy, where the top include most inclusive concepts with less general as one moves to the bottom. This is mostly used when there is a need to understand an event or situation.
Similarly, the concept involves cross- links which links domains of the concept or different segments in the map, hence building theory because of the different segment involved in exploring ideas, hence creating a succinct understand. Importantly, creative thinking can be facilitated through ability to search and characterize cross-links and creating a hierarchical structure which is in a good map. Similarly concept maps, according to Novak can contain examples of objects or events; which do not specific and do not represent concepts (Novak & Cañas, 2008).
Certainly this can be views as a theory building approach because it has formation of ideas, which are in a certain domain. Then such ideas have some sort of linking which is in some hierarchical structure. This arrangement is sort of arrangement of building a theory. This helps in understanding because the one learning is not confused; new ideas are arranged systematically creating understanding.
Additionally, maps allow a pictorial representation to the student about the topic or concept, hence allowing a visual representation. Concept maps help in the formation of ideas because they link new concepts and newer broader concepts. Accordingly, mapping allows representation of knowledge through graphical tools, which are more understandable and easier.
References
Artinian, B. (1982). Conceptual mapping: Development of the strategy. Western Journal of
Nursing Research, 4, 379-393.
Concept Mapping for Developing your Research Appalachian State University Boone, NC.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_8rNiW4A9A
Hunter Revell, S. M. (2012). Concept maps and nursing theory: A pedagogical approach. Nurse
Educator, 37(3), 131-135. Novak, J. D. & A. J. Cañas (2008). The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct
and Use Them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Retrieved from http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf
Wicks, M. N. (1995). Family health as derived from King's framework. In M. A. Frey & C. L.
Sieloff (Eds.), Advancing King's systems framework and theory of nursing (pp. 97-108). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
