One problem for students and researchers interested in evaluating theories in the social sciences is understanding the trajectory of their development. Because theory is so important in explaining and understanding social phenomena we need to know how they are put together and operationalized. This helps us adjudicate on the claims of theorists about their work, its validity, and its practical usefulness. After all, there's nothing so practical as a good theory!
The network of researchers that has coalesced around developing Normalization Process Theory has just published a paper that describes the work of defining and developing NPT - it shows how the theory was organized and enacted practically in a series of well defined discrete tasks that ran from the development of a set of empirical generalizations about telemedicine systems to a fully formed middle range theory of implementation and integration
The paper is available here: May C, Mair FS, Finch T, MacFarlane A, Dowrick C, Treweek S, et al. Development of a theory of implementation and integration: Normalization Process Theory. Implementation Science. 2009;4(29).
- Carl May
- I'm a sociologist interested in health and healthcare, technology and socio-technical change. As if that wasn't enough, I'm interested in developing explanatory models and theories that help us understand how new technologies and ways of working are implemented and integrated in healthcare, and how they become embedded in practice. When I'm not being a sociologist I'm usually cooking, or enjoying food and wine with my glorious partner and our fabulous friends, or traveling. My posts don't represent the views of my employers, colleagues, or the people who fund my research. They're just mine.
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