Concept advancement: Extending science through concept-driven research.

As methods for concept analysis have evolved, scholars have confounded the initial exploration of a concept with techniques for developing the conceptual unit, extending nursing theory, and establishing nursing knowledge. We argue that nursing is at a critical juncture in the methodological development of concept-driven research. In order to maximize the potential contribution of this type of research, approaches to concept analysis must be held separate and distinct from approaches to concept advancement. We advocate the use of principle-based concept analysis to determine appropriate techniques for advancing a concept. Concept advancement refers to strategic concept-driven inquiries that incrementally build the specification of conceptual meaning to a more precisely defined unit of meaning that has greater utility for research application. Examples of a project that employed strategic techniques for concept advancement are used to illustrate the flow of serial small projects.