Debunking Myths in Nursing Theory and Research

This article examines myths that persist in the traditional male‐defined scientific enterprise. Science per se is not rejected, but specific ways of confronting the myths are explored. The methods for debunking the myths derive from the concept of future search, wherein health and the values of nursing for the future direct the discovery of knowledge. The alternatives include a more ethical and responsible use of the methods of science as well as specific alternatives to science derived from Carper's (1978) patterns of knowing in nursing. The nursing literature has reflected growing recognition of the limitations of the scientific method in addressing problems in nursing (Gorenberg, 1983; Munhall, 1982; Newman, 1979; Smith, M. C, 1984; Vredevoe, 1984; Webster, Jacox, & Baldwin, 1981). Taken together, the literature leaves the impression that we should perhaps forsake the scientific method; alternatives for acquiring knowledge in nursing are not adequately described, and the alternatives that are suggested are not clearly alternatives to the scientific method. A fundamental issue that is lacking in most critiques of the scientific method is recognition that science is based on a male world view and that the myths sustained by this partial world view have perpetuated erroneous knowledge about the world. The purposes of this article are (a) to present an analysis of myths of science that arise from the partial male world view, (b) to propose methods for debunking these myths to attain a more whole science consistent with the essence of nursing, and (c) to propose alternative approaches to science where an alternative is indicated.