title: Clinical placement and case study methodology: a complex affair.
abstract: Clinical placement is a valuable component of nursing education, helping students to authenticate, integrate and develop a range of nursing skills and knowledge. The diversity of nursing curricula throughout the world and the many models of clinical placement make this a difficult subject to research using typical qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The potential for case study methodology to address the complexity of learning in the clinical environment is significant. This paper argues that Complexity Theory provides an interpretive paradigm that articulates well with case study methodology. This paper also provides an example of the development of a theoretical proposition based on pattern matching. Pattern matching is an approach to data analysis that encourages a consideration of predicted patterns with those that are empirically based.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, The University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005. frank.donnelly@adelaide.edu.au
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: Rick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wiechula
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009742:Nursing Theory; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology