What is a concept?

Lemuel Joseph Agustin

 CONCEPTS
● Building blocks
of theories
concepts
● Classify the phenomena of interest
● Must not be considered separate from the
theoretical system
● Have completely different meanings in
different theoretical systems
● Maybe abstract or concrete
Abstract concept &
concrete concept
Abstract concept
● Are independent of a specific time
and place
● Example:
○ Social system
○ Debate
○ Telemetry
Concrete concept
● Are related to a specific time and
place
● Example:
○ The Marquis family 2 south surgery
Floor, Memorial Hospital,
○ Nurse-Patient-Family-Caregive
○ Bush-Kerry Debate
○ Electrocardiogram, Holter monitor
Discrete/non-variable concepts
& continuous concept
Discrete/non variable concepts
● Identifies categories or classes
of phenomena,such as
patient,nurse or environment.

● Can also be classified as

bureaucratic or non bureaucratic,
knowing how to classify the
phenomenon.
Discrete/non variable concepts
A student can become a nurse or choose
another profession but he/she cannot be
a partial nurse. Therefore,phenomena are
identified as either belonging to, or
not belonging to,a given class or
category.
Continuous concept

● Permits the classification of

dimensions or gradations of a
phenomenon across a continuum.
Continuous concept

The concept of a patients to rate

their pain in a scale from 0 to 10 to
classify threshold or painful events.
Continuous concept
Note that continuous concepts are not
expressed in either/ or terms but are
conceptualized in degrees on a continuum.
References:
Tomey, A. & Alligood, M.(2008).Nursing theorists and their
work. Philippines: Elsevier, INC.
Thank you