title: A concept analysis of abductive reasoning.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe an analysis of the concept of abductive reasoning.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  In the discipline of nursing, abductive reasoning has received only philosophical attention and remains a vague concept. In addition to deductive and inductive reasoning, abductive reasoning is not recognized even in prominent nursing knowledge development literature. Therefore, what abductive reasoning is and how it can inform nursing practice and education was explored.
  
  
  METHODS
  Concept analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Combinations of specific keywords were searched in Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychINFO, PubMed, Medline and EMBASE. The analysis was conducted in June 2012 and only literature before this period was included. No time limits were set.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rodger's evolutionary method for conducting concept analysis was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve records were included in the analysis. The most common surrogate term was retroduction, whereas related terms included intuition and pattern and similarity recognition. Antecedents consisted of a complex, puzzling situation and a clinician with creativity, experience and knowledge. Consequences included the formation of broad hypotheses that enhance understanding of care situations. Overall, abductive reasoning was described as the process of hypothesis or theory generation and evaluation. It was also viewed as inference to the best explanation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As a new approach, abductive reasoning could enhance reasoning abilities of novice clinicians. It can not only incorporate various ways of knowing but also its holistic approach to learning appears to be promising in problem-based learning. As nursing literature on abductive reasoning is predominantly philosophical, practical consequences of abductive reasoning warrant further research.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Noeman A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mirza
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Noori
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akhtar-Danesh
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Noesgaard
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Staples
mesh_terms: D003210:Concept Formation; D006801:Humans; D009729:Nursing; D013850:Thinking
keywords: abduction; abductive reasoning; clinical reasoning; concept analysis; hypothesis generation; hypothetico-deductive method; problem-based learning; ways of knowing