The interplay between the abstract and the particular: research ethics standards and the practice of research as symbolic.

Ethical standards for research with human participants are increasingly important. With respect to nursing research these standards are symbolic of the interplay between the abstract theoretical aspects of bioethical standards and the particulars of nursing practice. In this column, this interplay is symbolized as a reflective equilibrium. These standards are argued to symbolize not only the dialectic relationship between the abstract and the particular in ethics, but also the general lack of a nursing specific articulation of ethical standards. Further understanding of the distinctiveness of nurses' moral judgments and knowledge is presented as necessary in strengthening the reflective equilibrium.