Call for Maps: Mapping Science Exhibit, 7th Iteration on "Science Maps as Visual Interfaces to Digital Libraries" (2011)

Background and Goals

The Places & Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit was created to inspire cross-disciplinary discussion on how to best track and communicate human activity and scientific progress on a global scale. It has two components: (1) physical exhibits enable the close inspection of high quality reproductions of maps for display at conferences and education centers and (2) the online counterpart (http://scimaps.org) provides links to a selected series of maps and their makers along with detailed explanations of how these maps work.

Places & Spaces is a 10-year effort. Each year, 10 new maps are added, which will result in 100 maps total in 2014. Each iteration of the exhibit attempts to learn from the best examples of visualization design. To accomplish this goal, each iteration compares and contrasts four existing maps with six new maps of science. Themes for the different iterations/years are:

  * 1st Iteration (2005): The Power of Maps
  * 2nd Iteration (2006): The Power of Reference Systems
  * 3rd Iteration (2007): The Power of Forecasts
  * 4th Iteration (2008): Science Maps for Economic Decision Makers
  * 5th Iteration (2009): Science Maps for Science Policy Makers
  * 6th Iteration (2010): Science Maps for Scholars
  * 7th Iteration (2011): Science Maps as Visual Interfaces to Digital Libraries
  * 8th Iteration (2012): Science Maps for Kids
  * 9th Iteration (2013): Science Maps for Daily Science Forecasts
  * 10th Iteration (2014): Telling Lies With Science Maps

Places & Spaces was first shown at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in April 2005. Since then, the physical exhibit has been displayed at more than 175 venues in over 15 countries, including eleven in Europe, plus Japan, China, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. A schedule of all display locations can be found at http://scimaps.org/exhibitions

Submission Details

The 7th iteration of the Mapping Science exhibit is devoted to science maps that serve as visual interfaces to digital libraries. These maps might communicate the

  * quality and coverage of data sets,
  * the structure (ontology, taxonomy, classification hierarchy) of data sets,
  * (semantic) linkages between data sets,
  * the evolution of a data set, or
  * access and usage patterns of data sets.

They are intended to support the navigation, management, and utilization of mankind’s scholarly knowledge and to make it more readily available to researchers, educators, industry, policy makers and/or the general public.

We invite maps that show a visual rendering of a dataset together with a legend, textual description, and acknowledgements as required to interpret the map. Science map dimensions can be abstract, geographical, or feature-based, but are typically richer than simple x, y plots. Scientific knowledge can be used to generate a reference system over which other data, e.g., funding opportunities or job openings, are overlaid or be projected onto another reference system, e.g., a map of the world, but must be prominently featured.


Each initial entry must be submitted by Jan 30th, 2011 and needs to include:

  * Low resolution version of map
  * Title of work
  * Author(s) name, email address, affiliation, mailing address
  * Copyright holder (if different from authors)
  * Description of work: Scholarly needs addressed, data used, data analysis, visualization techniques applied, and main insights gained (100-300 words)
  * References to publications in which the map appeared
  * Links to related projects/works

Entries should be submitted via email to the curators of the exhibit: Katy Börne (katy at indiana.edu) and the exhibit designer Michael J. Stamper (mstamper at indiana.edu) using the email subject header “Mapping Science Entry”.

Please feel free to send any questions you might have regarding the judging process to Katy Börner (katy at indiana.edu). Please keep subject header (as used here).

This call - with additional details -  is also available at http://scimaps.org/call

Call for Papers: The Science of Trust Initiative -

Building and Restoring Trust in Science and Health Information across Patient, Community and Population Settings

 

Message(s) to HIFA alerting to, and response to a Call for Papers:

 

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Neil Pakenham-Walsh <neil.pakenham-walsh@ghi-net.org>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Friday, 16 December 2022 at 12:11:19 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population Settings

I am forwarding this from our colleagues at Infodemic Management News, WHO.

Opportunities for action Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population Settings

The Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media, and Engagement in Global Health seeks to solicit diverse perspectives and build a robust evidence base for a special issue on trust and misinformation as part of the journal’s Science of Trust Initiative. This special issue will explore topics across different health communication areas aimed at addressing issues fuelled by misinformation such as mistrust, social discrimination, and pervasive stigma. There is specific interest in submissions related to the science of trust that focus on interdisciplinary collaborations to promote social, policy, and/or behavioral change, address key root causes of health inequities, and can help forge the path forward for building and fostering trust. A good opportunity to showcase your latest achievements or research in infodemic management!

To read the call for papers and submit, it’s here. The deadline is 26 February 2022.

Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator Healthcare Information For All Global Healthcare Information Network Working in Official Relations with the World Health Organization 20,000 members, 400 supporting organisations, 180 countries, 6 forums, 4 languages www.hifa.org neil AT hifa.org

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Neil Pakenham-Walsh <neil.pakenham-walsh@ghi-net.org>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Friday, 30 December 2022 at 10:06:18 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population settings (4)

Dear Najeeb, Meena and all,

Najeeb: "I think this is a golden opportunity for HIFA to publish an article (possibly written by a number of key people in HIFA) and provide a leading statement that emphasizes the role of communication (good quality information) in healthcare for all." https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/call-papers-building-and-restoring-trust-science-and-health-information-across-patient

Meena: "Very nice idea Najeeb and happy to be part of this project." https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/call-papers-building-and-restoring-trust-science-and-health-information-3-hifa-paper

Yes indeed, the call for papers is specifically about 'Building and restoring trust in science and health information'. HIFA is uniquely positioned to explore this issue through dynamic multidisciplinary discussion.

My initial thought is that this could be done within the framework of our current collaboration with WHO and specifically the consultation we are planning for 2023: 'To identify best practices, opportunities and challenges from relevant health related stakeholders, towards pursuing universal access to reliable healthcare information'. https://www.hifa.org/projects/hifa-who-collaboration-plan Lack of trust is a huge challenge and it requires engagement from all stakeholders.

I would like to invite HIFA members and supporting organisations to comment and suggest next steps.

Best wishes, Neil

Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, Jordan <shorbajin@gmail.com>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Saturday, 31 December 2022 at 22:12:50 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population settings (5) HIFA-WHO Collaboration

Dear Neil and all members of HIFA family

Happy New Year. The suggestion to invite comments from HIFA members is a logical one and fully supported. HIFA current collaboration with WHO should really be highlighted in this piece especially that WHO and HIFA have both a mission to make high quality information available and accessible by the world. Good quality, timely and accurate health information provided to people is the best prevention, protection and leads to good treatment of diseases. Hopefully this will make heath goals much more attainable. Lets go for it friends.

With kind regards.

Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, PhD, IAHSI

... Website: www.shorbaji.net Director, Knowledge, Ethics and Research WHO/HQ (Retired) e-Marefa Advisor President, Jordan Library and Information Association President, eHealth Development Association, Jordan President, Middle East and North Africa Association of Health Informatics IMIA Vice-President for MEDINFO 2023 Visiting Professor, Ain Shams University, Egypt Member of the International Academy of Pubic Health Scientific Council ORCID ID 0000-0003-3843-8430

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Peter Jones, UK <hifa@hifaforums.org>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Sunday, 1 January 2023 at 15:45:42 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population settings (6) Hodges' model and information disorder

As highlighted before on HIFA over many years, Hodges' model can inform such a call for papers and project.

In several ways, including but not limited to - critique and representation of data, information, knowledge, wisdom (literacies - across all academic and professional disciplines):

Jones, P. (1996) Humans, Information, and Science, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(3),591-598.
Jones, P. (1996) An overarching theory of health communication? Health Informatics Journal,2,1,28-34.

Additional citation: IRMS Bulletin - November 2022
https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2022/12/irms-230-h2cm-literacies.htm

"I am indebted to Peter Jones, who shared Hodges’ Health Career Model with the 2022 IRMS conference in Glasgow. Although originally used in a healthcare setting, this simple, two-axis intellectual model can be readily used to analyse any complex interaction between the individual and their environment – in this case, information literacies.

The diagram shows a number of distinct yet overlapping literacies that were potentially in play in our problem example, although there are likely to be many more – even emotional literacy played a part, with the frustrations of the young people in question causing them to dismiss potential solutions before they had been tried or even considered. Likewise, socio-political and socio-economic literacies may have been a factor – if you are unaware that something exists in the world due to blind-spots in your own cultural background then you cannot even begin to look for it."

Jon Fryer, "Information Literacies - Learning, to thrive in a digital age". IRMS Bulletin, Issue 230, November 2022. cc c (A membership journal)

During the summer and the "Communicating health research" thread on HIFA, I thought about 'information disorder' and the infodemic:

https://rm.coe.int/information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-researc/168076277c [*see note below] I recalled this quote too - amid 'information overload'.

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” ― T.S. Eliot, The Rock

As the evidence-base 'accumulates' there may be a questions about the life-cycle of research?

From implementation science to deimplementation: Patey et al. Implementation Science (2018) 13:134 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-018-0826-6

As an 'ecosystem' is it imperative that one (or more) part of 'data, information KNOWLEDGE wisdom' must wither on the academic (vine) database - reduced citation hence salience?

The aims and scope of a paper may also encompass the public's understanding of science. Frameworks and models of care/selfcare are needed that can simultaneously:

"... differentiate between science writing for the public and writing across communities of scientific practice. Described by its editors as an interdisciplinary journal, they argue it is a ‘transdisciplinary journal’"

from -Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet, Orli Wolfson, Roy Yosef, Noam Chapnik, Adi Brill, and Elad Segev. Jargon Use in Public Understanding of Science Papers over Three Decades. Public Understanding of Science, 29(6) (August 2020): 644–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662520940501.

Hodges' model being situated can be used in contexts that are inter- multi- transdisciplinary and interprofessional (education).

If I can assist I'd be pleased to proof read, critique drafts, provide a figure / table using Hodges' model to illustrate the conceptual scope and associations of the work.

I may have also referred to agnotology - the study of ignorance, this should (must?) be a concurrent factor in research of literacy. If anyone has time to please read and comment on a near complete draft paper on: COVID-19, technology, society, Hodges' model, fake news misinformation dis- mal- also I'd be very grateful.

[ Since this message was posted to HIFA, I greatly appreciate an offer to read the draft, which should be complete mid-end of February ]

Happy New Year to all - wherever celebrated.

Peter Jones
Community Mental Health Nurse and Researcher
Warrington Recovery Team, NW England
http://twitter.com/h2cm

The call for papers link again:
https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/science-trust-initiative/?utm_source=TFO&utm_medium=cms&utm_campaign=JPG15743

[*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): Many thanks Peter, this publication looks interesting. The first paragraph of the executive summary sets the scene: 'This report is an attempt to comprehensively examine information disorder and its related challenges, such as filter bubbles and echo chambers. While the historical impact of rumours and fabricated content have been well documented, we argue that contemporary social technology means that we are witnessing something new: information pollution at a global scale; a complex web of motivations for creating, disseminating and consuming these ‘polluted’ messages; a myriad of content types and techniques for amplifying content; innumerable platforms hosting and reproducing this content; and breakneck speeds of communication between trusted peers.' I have invited the authors to join us.]

Postdoc “Citizen Science” (V25.0121) at Univ of Groningen

We're hiring:

Postdoc in Citizen Science at the University of Groningen

Are you passionate about public engagement with science and citizen science? Do you want to develop and work on projects that connect academia with society and make a real impact? We have an exciting Postdoc position available in our Citizen Science team!
Please note: You should be able to speak Dutch...

📅 Apply by March 23, 2025
🔗 Learn more & apply here: https://lnkd.in/emsFzdgJ

Feel free to share in your network.

Cheers,

Henk

Dr. Henk A.J. Mulder
Master Science Education and Communication &
Bèta Wetenschapswinkel (Science Shop @ Science LinX),
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen)
Dr. Henk A.J. Mulder
Energy Academy/IREES
kamer/room 5158.0222
Nijenborgh 6
9747 AG Groningen
The Netherlands

h.a.j.mulder AT rug.nl
http://www.rug.nl/staff/h.a.j.mulder/
http://www.rug.nl/society-business/science-shops/
http://www.rug.nl/masters/educatie-en-communicatie-in-de-wiskunde-en-natuurwetenschappen/

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

my ACADEMIC CAREER my LANGUAGE SKILLS my LIFE EXPERIENCE my PASSIONS	SCIENCES - ENGINEERING 'LIVED EXPERIENCE' Enthusiast-Expert [patient, swimmer, x,y,z ...] local, regional, national, international
PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT COMMUNITY ISSUES/AWARENESS COMMUNICATION	CITIZENS EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY PUBLIC PRIORITIES POLICY PRIORITIES

n.b. No endorsement of Hodges' model should be construed from inclusion of #h2cm above.

Informing Science (with Thor to follow) ...

The problem with the web is you search, find and save stuff and then it virtually disappears on hard drives and folders only to somehow bubble-up back to life hopefully at a time of need. So with the Informing Science Journal.

I know the details are only a click away, but here they are:

The academically peer refereed journal Informing Science endeavors to provide an understanding of the complexities in informing clientele. Fields from information systems, library science, journalism in all its forms to education all contribute to this science. These fields, which developed independently and have been researched in separate disciplines, are evolving to form a new transdiscipline, Informing Science.

Informing Science publishes articles that provide insights into the nature, function and design of systems that inform clients. Authors may use epistemologies from engineering, computer science, education, psychology, business, anthropology, and such. The ideal paper will serve to inform fellow researchers, perhaps from other fields, of contributions to this area.

Ever since reviewing Gary Hall's "Digitize This Book!" the future of academic publishing, the university as an institution and scholarly disciplines has been on my mind. I did have another book on my wish list that predicted I believe the death of the university if things do not change. This is lost somewhere... I am really pleased to rediscover this journal, its contents and look forward to reading more and possibly contributing once existing projects are completed...

In the substance misuse paper draft, in addition to the usual key concepts I am wondering about the use of holistic bridges and so...

More to follow soon on the aims of the Informing Science Journal with reference to Thor, bridges and what informing science means for Hodges' model ....

Global cost of silencing science BMJ ...

Editorials

Global cost of silencing science

BMJ 2025; 390 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r1370 (Published 10 July 2025)Cite this as: BMJ 2025;390:r1370

'Public trust in scientific integrity is eroded by the politicisation of institutions under Donald Trump’s US presidency. The implications extend far beyond American borders, striking at the core of how scientific knowledge is produced, disseminated, and trusted worldwide.

Recent directives seek to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, cut federal funding to critical health research agencies, and restrict references to gender, race, and climate science in official documentation. Scientific staff at federal agencies face mounting pressure to comply with politically motivated communication policies. Such institutional interference not only distorts scientific findings—it undermines the principles of transparency and editorial independence outlined in the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations.1 As members of ICMJE we feel compelled to speak out.

The ICMJE underscores that “editors should preserve the integrity of the scientific record by critically evaluating manuscripts free from undue influence and without compromising scholarly values.”1 Yet, under the current administration, several US federal science agencies require pre-approval for external publications—a direct contravention of these editorial standards.2 This climate of control stifles open inquiry and discourages evidence based discourse, particularly when scientific conclusions diverge from political narratives.'
...

'Independent scientific communication is equally under threat. Increasing pressure on government researchers to avoid controversial topics or reframe findings to suit political narratives creates an institutional chilling effect. Self-censorship born of fear may be more damaging than overt censorship. Researchers, particularly early career scientists and those from under-represented backgrounds, may choose to abandon public communication or controversial areas of inquiry altogether. This trend further narrows the scope of scientific innovation, limits the range of perspectives reflected in research agendas, and ultimately harms health.'
...

'This is a call for science grounded in ethical principles and dedicated to the service of humanity. Scientific research, especially in medicine and public health, is inherently intertwined with social justice. Silencing DEI initiatives, censoring climate science, and delegitimising minority researchers is not neutrality—it is complicity in perpetuating harm.'
...

Footnotes

This article is being jointly published by The BMJ, Deutsches Ärtzeblatt, Journal of Korean Medical Science, Lancet, La Tunisie Médicale, Medwave, and New Zealand Medical Journal.

References

1. ↵
   International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Recommendations. 2025. https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/
2. ↵
   Bush V. Science—the Endless Frontier. 75th anniversary edition. National Science Foundation, 1980. https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/2023-04/EndlessFrontier75th_w.pdf

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r1370

My source: https://x.com/bmj_latest/status/1944478436489134350

2nd iConference Workshop on Sociotechnical Systems

Workshop: “Keywords of the Sociotechnical”
Organizers:
Steven Jackson, University of Michigan;
David Ribes, Georgetown University;
Sean Goggins, Drexel University

We invite participation in the 2nd iConference Workshop on Sociotechnical systems, to be held prior to the iConference on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana-Champaign on February 3, 2010. To see “who we are”, check out the facebook group – “Researchers of the Sociotechnical” or our website at http://www.sociotech.net .

You may register here: https://www.ischools.org/conftool/

In 1975 British cultural historian Raymond Williams published his influential pocket dictionary Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. The text tackled the most difficult, contested and often under explored terms in his field: culture, agency, technology, etc. Today studies of sociotechnical systems finds itself at a place not unlike where British Cultural Studies was in the early 70s: a meeting place for scholars of multiple disciplinary backgrounds deploying concepts and tools whose commonality (and separateness) of meaning has yet to be fully established.

What are the words that transcend the sectional interests of, say, organizational science and HCI, CSCW and science and technology studies? When an HCI researcher and a social informatics scholar say ‘system’ or ‘design,’ are they really talking about the same thing? Relatedly, how do we go about attaching these keywords to concrete socio-technical research
problems in our diverse disciplinary traditions? How do we go about transforming a cross-field coincidence of research objects (Wikipedia, eScience, social practices in pervasive computing spaces, and countless others) into a mutually informed set of research problems?

This workshop will provide a venue to gather and discuss our intellectual traditions, research objects, and vocabularies in order to elaborate and clarify the keywords of the sociotechnical.

*Studying Sociotechnical Systems*

The workshop builds on and extends efforts that have included the 2008 & 2009 Summer Research Institute of the Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems (CSST). These Research Institutes, supported by the National Science Foundation and held at the University of Michigan (2008) and Syracuse University (2009), brought together a diverse set of researchers from fields as diverse as science and technology studies, human-computer interaction, management and organizational studies, library and information science, sociology, social informatics, and computer science, to begin exploring and framing a future research agenda centered on socio-technical research.

David Ribes, Ph.D.
Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT)
Georgetown University
http://davidribes.com

Additional links:

The Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems (CSST) [and above image source]

"Isomorphism of structures": intra- interDomain & model as theory?

"Another illuminating example of the advantages of a posthuman scientific position is the One Health Initiative. The movement is inspired by Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), who coined the term zoonosis, arguing that there should be no dividing lines between animal and human medicine. This position has been gathering momentum in the last fifteen years. The One Health Initiative is a rather daring interdisciplinary alliance that unites physicians, osteopaths, veterinarians, dentists, nurses, and other scientific-health and environmentally related disciplines, on the basis of a simple hypothesis, which is the isomorphism of structures between humans and animals in immunology, bacteriology, and vaccine developments. This means that humans are both exposed and vulnerable to new diseases, like bird flu and other epidemics, which they share with animal species." p.16.

 
Rosi Braidotti. (2015). Yes, There Is No Crisis. Working Towards the Posthumanities. DiGeSt. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2(1–2), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.11116/jdivegendstud.2.1-2.0009

<>

I have felt for many years that there is an implicit 'theory' in Hodges' model.

"Lastly, model is defined by May Brodbeck as "an isomorphic representation of objects that leads to an unmistakable identification of the expression of the object with the physical object." p.235.

"Though, Models like theories, are systems of generalizations based on empirical findings yet there are differences between them. A theory basically involves a set of statements, called either laws or propositions which are related to each other and which express relationships between variables under varying states of the system. It has to be kept in mind that although some tentative or untested theories are called models, a model and a theory are only roughly identical, because a model has a more static connotation. Unlike concepts, models are not arbitrary, and can be confirmed or disconfirmed. They differ in the degree of isomorphism they have with the modelled phenomena. In social science, a model is not a concrete of "real" structure. For that would be complete and idiosyncratic, from which it would be difficult to develop generalizations. An important distincton between theory and model is that while the model has primarily predictive power, a theory has both predictive and explanatory power. However, this is not true in all cases. Apart from making predictions, models can also direct us towards new materials and ground which are not yet covered thereby helping us to discover more relationships, thus serving few heuristic functions." p.237.

PATNAIK, L. K. (1989). MODEL BUILDING IN POLITICAL SCIENCE. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 50(2), 234–250. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41855908

<>

I will add other useful references from here:

"Furthermore, in philosophy of science, a pragmatic view on modelling has emerged over the last decade, in which the relation between a model and its target, traditionally expressed as representation in the form of formal, structuralist or syntactic morphism (such as isomorphism), is being replaced by emphasizing a pragmatic relationship, often simply described as a situation where somebody creates a model of something with some purpose (Gelfert 2016, 113)." pp.344-45.

Ciula, A., Eide, Ø., Marras, C., & Sahle, P. (2018). Models and Modelling between Digital and Humanities. Remarks from a Multidisciplinary Perspective. Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung, 43(4), 343–361. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26544261

Plus for completeness:
Gelfert, Axel. 2016. How to do science with models: a philosophical primer. Cham: Springer. 

<>

In the conclusion: "Despite the growing body of research pertaining to a nascent theory of emergence, its central themes are based on a limited theory–model–phenomena conception that does not adequately support those conceptual abstractions. Take, for instance, the direct transfer of microscopic concepts to macroscopic levels of analysis. Strengthening the conceptual link beyond metaphorical device is essential to a robust process of theory building and holds numerous applications, such as underpinning further social science research and theory-building pursuits. Without an effective isomorphism of theory and structures to real-world behaviour, it is an arguable conclusion that a theory of emergence for human organisation does not currently exist. Such is the importance of ontological adequacy and the interchange between conceptual models. It facilitates the practice of interdisciplinary science that characterises much of complexity research." p.319.

Yezdani, O., Sanzogni, L., & Poropat, A. (2015). Theory of emergence: introducing a model-centred approach to applied social science research. Prometheus, 33(3), 305–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/08109028.2016.1144669

My emphasis.

Editorial: "The Meaning of Concept Analysis" i

Nursing Science Quarterly (NSQ)

 

 

This editorial, "The Meaning of Concept Analysis" is open access and concerns an academic activity that is 'bread and butter' in nursing theory. It is well worth reading, for students too.

"The purpose of this editorial is to clarify the meanings of the term concept and analysis and to offer some guidelines that show what is appropriate for publication of concept analyses."

 

The editorial is helpful in encouraging the effort here, even as it suggests I would be wasting my time, the editor's and referees (although quarterly has a certain appeal).

 

 

The journal's role and purpose is clearly described:

"Nursing Science Quarterly is unique in that it is the only journal devoted exclusively to the enhancement of nursing knowledge. Only Nursing Science Quarterly publishes original manuscripts focusing on nursing theory development, nursing theory-based practice and quantitative and qualitative research related to existing nursing frameworks, contributed by the leading theorists, researchers and nurse executives. including nurse theory development."

I've enjoyed the freedom here, on the periphery of academia. Afraid at the same time that this 'h2cm' obsession has, will ... impact my objectivity, subjectivity - by way of attitudes, openness and view within and without of nursing, in theory, practice and management. Added to being able to carry the weight that is nursing (responsibility). The load is made-up of history, the legacies, the global academic balance (or not), the current global state of the profession, the fight for professional recognition and more. All rolled-up, and rolled-out when the challenges of the 21st century warrant it. Yes, the future is always - out there.

Concepts are key in Hodges' model, as a conceptual framework, as a series of conceptual spaces, as domains for threshold concepts and much more. I think I'm struggling now, as I always have in giving 'a' concept my critical attention, and its being in uniform. Concepts are always 'seen' as a gestalt. This may explain why I'm not an academic and definitely not a professional philosopher. The editorial notes:

"Examples of some analyses of concrete concepts that would not contribute to discipline-specific nursing knowledge and therefore are not worthy of publication include nursing overtime, nursing shortage, cultural competencies, medical diagnoses, precision health, big data, sensor technology, health economics, omics, and symptom science, among others."

I have mapped these concepts to Hodges' model below (underlined), and added in italics some associated concepts:

 

 

 INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

psychiatric diagnosis data ethics [person-al] symptom science [here] person-centered care / health emotional/spiritual intelligence	medical diagnoses, precision health, big data sensor technology, omics, and symptom science procedure x,y,z - cost $$$
cultural competencies social prescribing health literacy public understanding of sciences	nursing overtime nursing shortage nursing crisis? data ethics [COP15] outcomes - patient safety information governance health economics

As an exercise you may like to consider the following, as relates to the care - knowledge domains of Hodges' model?

"For the discipline of nursing (which includes the extant theories and frameworks) appropriate analyses of abstract concepts that contribute to the advancement of discipline-specific knowledge include self-care, wellness, well-being, self-esteem, courage, trust, burden, comfort, resilience, betrayal, shame, and authentic presence, among others."

Along with the concern about my preoccupation with Hodges' model, every time I type reflection, reflective practice - it hurts. It feels like another form of navel gazing, and yet the need for reflection, and reflective practitioners, producing critical thinkers and reflective practitioners is recognised world-wide.

I can't help but get a sense that concept analysis is nurse's navel gazing. If I sound critical, it would be a greater problem if this was the view of others outside nursing? Maybe, this point itself, validates the production of discipline-specific knowledge for nursing? I can't escape though, the feeling that there is something limiting, narrowing, even apolitical here: (Is there a global nursing crisis)? There has been much needed conceptual work on race, justice, gender, equality [google 'concept analysis, ...']. I realise my expansive approach can - and does - fall dead from the press. If I can blame the Atlantic, then I hope that pluralism still has a role to play?

 

Parse concludes:

"Nurse researchers and emerging scholars should answer four questions before launching a concept analysis that could be worthy of publications.

1. Is the concept an abstract expression to illuminate the essences that can contribute to nursing knowledge development?

2. Is the conception critical to the advancement of discipline-specific knowledge?

3. Which extant concept analysis model is appropriate for this concept?

4. Will this concept analysis be worthy of publication in light of its level of abstraction and possible contribution to nursing science?"

In the 21st Century concept analysis will have its place, being key in philosophy, linguistics, ethics, law, artificial intelligence ... and yes, nursing too. But increasingly I think the true power of concepts (in theory, practice, management, policy) is found when they are related and conjoined.* 

More to follow ... then silence ... for a time ...

Parse RR. The Meaning of Concept Analysis. Nursing Science Quarterly. 2023;36(1):5-5. doi:10.1177/08943184221131957

*To state the obvious.

Is Hodges' Model anathema to 'Extant Nursing Theories' ?

 INDIVIDUAL
|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

	Nursing Science Quarterly

"Are the extant nursing theories endangered species? Some nurse leaders think so. A cursory review of major nursing journals reveals the conspicuous absence of articles using nursing theories as guides to research and practice. These articles are often written by seasoned scholars and doctoral students in nursing, yet nursing science is absent. How can this be when PhD students are being prepared to be knowledge builders for the discipline and their teachers are the seasoned scholars?

This question took center stage in a recent international gathering of nurse researchers and theoreticians."

Parse RR. Are the Extant Nursing Theories Endangered Species? Nursing Science Quarterly. 2023;36(2):109-109. doi:10.1177/08943184221150254

 

 

Hodges' Model is a stranger in a strange land; and as usual I am writing from Wigan Pier - so vastly differing contexts and experiences acknowledged.

 

Whatever its status as a model of nursing, model of care, conceptual framework, nursing theory (level 'x'); as the editorial indicates, if the model were to have a 'home' it might be the USA with its nursing science PhD programmes. 

 

Clearly, this is not the case.

 

Unsuccessful in trying to learn of the international event mentioned, I can take encouragement from Hodges' model being 'stateless' and as such, being global, local and glocal in scope. There is succour in having an origin the model can call home here in the NW England (literal - person-centredness).

The medicalisation of nursing science may be an issue for PhD programmes in the USA, but the inter- multi- transdisciplinary potential of Hodges' model can encompass this - preserving and even assuring disciplinary identity as needed. An original purpose of the model was also curriculum design, and development.

"In all university systems it is the faculty and administrators of nursing programs who make curriculum decisions. These same faculty and administrators promulgate the use of theories from other disciplines to guide nursing research for PhD dissertations. What is wrong with this picture?"

I would suggest it is not 'big' - rich enough.

"What is the uniqueness of nursing as a discipline when medical science content has replaced the nursing theories and frameworks in PhD programs? The extant theories and frameworks concretized nursing as a unique discipline different from medicine in the 20^th century. Can nursing now be distinguished from medicine when the content of PhD programs is bereft of extant nursing theories and frameworks?"

Yes, nursing can and is being distinguished from medicine and all other disciplines: abstraction and scope of practice are key. 

So many 'literature searches' are incomplete (but I would say that).

It is actually a sad state of affairs should PhD programmes of study be the primary motivation for the development of nursing science. This is the 21st Century.

Nursing should be defined by the needs of national and global populations and associated national and global policy - especially ongoing gaps in those needs.

Complexity science as a frame; or, a frame for complexity science?

In reading for WCCS later this month, I wonder if Braithwaite et al. (open access) may have found Hodges' model useful in addressing both the learning objectives and questions they raise in their chapter; and as a response to the recommendations?

Braithwaite J, Ellis LA, Churruca K, et al. Complexity Science as a Frame for Understanding the Management and Delivery of High Quality and Safer Care. 2020 Dec 15. In: Donaldson L, Ricciardi W, Sheridan S, et al., editors. Textbook of Patient Safety and Clinical Risk Management [Internet]. Cham (CH): Springer; 2021. Chapter 27. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585611/ doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-59403-9_27

' Learning Objectives and Questions Covered in the Chapter

• How does a linear view of improvement contrast with a complexity science approach? 
• The complexity frame makes it harder to manage and deliver high quality and safer care — does it therefore need to be rejected in favour of simpler improvement models?
• What examples can be brought to bear to show how studies in the complexity frame can lead to good outcomes and positive change?'

'In addition, in homing in on any part of a CAS, we can discern elements of both selfsimilarity and local nuances. Self-similarity can manifest fractally, at different scales (e.g., features of the culture of the organisation at the team level approximate to that of the culture of the department, and then division, and then the whole organisation) or laterally (e.g., one department looks comparable structurally to another). It might seem paradoxical, but healthcare levels or departments, despite being self-similar in some respects, also each operate as unique entities. There are always localised contextual, cultural and structural distinctions. Such local nuances occur as the result of the particular configurations of agents (e.g., nurses, doctors, quality managers, patients) following their internalised rules and shared mental models (e.g., put the patients first, project a good reputation to the outside world, prioritise safety) in that unique setting.' pp.378-379.

'Bringing clinicians from different departments together with the patient as the focus, provided a deeper understanding of other’s roles and barriers, helped create a shared mental model, and fostered a whole-of-system approach to the care for patients with this condition.' p.382.

[CAS - Complex Adaptive System]
 

'Recommendations

1. Sensitise those with responsibility for leading, managing, improving or researching care settings to a systems view. 
2. Train sufficient staff in the tools of complexity: FRAM, network analyses, system dynamics modelling, process mapping, and the like. 
3. Approach quality and safety and risk management activities with a knowledge of complexity science, sense-making, and non-linearity rather than as a set of linear problems amenable to simplistic causal change logic. 
4. Consider how our studies, borrowing from complexity theory, have resisted simplifying the challenges, but have nevertheless made progress in understanding care systems and their improvement.' p.389.

 [FRAM - Functional Resonance Analysis Method]

 I will include this in my presentation, duly cited:

 'Complexity science as a frame: or, frame for complexity science?'

ERCIM News No. 144 Special theme: "Advancing Open Science"

 

Dear ERCIM News reader,

ERCIM News 144 is now online [in PDF also]! This issue is dedicated to Advancing Open Science. Open Science is becoming an essential part of the European research landscape, shaping how knowledge, data, software, infrastructures and results are shared, reused and sustained.

The contributions collected in this special theme offer a cross-section insight into the current European effort to make research more open, transparent, collaborative and reusable.

This special theme was coordinated by our guest editors Leonardo Candela (CNR-ISTI) and Roberto Di Cosmo (Inria and University Paris Cité).

Includes: [PJ]

Rethinking Researcher Profiles in the Research Assessment Transition Era: The OpenAIRE Approach. pp.9-10.

P. Manghi, et al., “OpenAIRE Graph Dataset (10.6.0) [Data set]”, OpenAIRE.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17725827

BibTexViz: Visualizing Research Productivity with Open Science Data. pp.10-12.

D. Hicks, et al., “The Leiden Manifesto for research metrics”, Nature 520, 429-431, 2015.
https://doi.org/10.1038/520429a
T. Munzner, “Visualization Analysis and Design”, CRC Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1201/b17511
M. Zaumanis, “Research Data Visualization and Scientific Graphics: For Papers, Presentations and Proposals”, Peer Recognized, 2021.

MOEBA-BIO: An Open and Extensible Framework for Evolutionary Biclustering in Biomedicine. pp.17-19.

Co-Creation as Infrastructure for Open Science Data Spaces. pp.24-25.

A Osterheider, et al., “Conceptualization of the Understanding of Participation and Co-Creation in Interdisciplinary Research Groups developing Digital Health Technology: An Exploratory Study: Conceptualization of the Understanding of Participation and Co-Creation”, Mensch und Computer 2023, 534–538, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1145/3603555.3608572

LICORICE: Deploying Privacy-Enhancing Technologies for Europe’s Digital Sovereignty. pp.30-31.

D4Science: An Enabling Infrastructure for Open Science. pp.38-39.

D. Schaap, M. Assante, et al., “Blue-Cloud: Exploring and demonstrating the potential of Open Science for ocean sustainability,” in Proc. 6th Int. Workshop on Metrology for the Sea; Learning to Measure Sea Health Parameters (MetroSea), IEEE, 2022, pp. 198–202, doi:10.1109/MetroSea55331.2022.9950819.

Next Issue - No. 145

Special Theme: E-values: Statistical Testing for the 21st Century

Call for Contributions

Thanks for reading ERCIM News. If you’ve enjoyed this issue, please feel free to forward it to colleagues who may find it interesting and help us reach even more readers by sharing it on LinkedIn.

If you’re considering an even deeper partnership, advertising in ERCIM News not only helps sustain our publication but also puts your message in front of an expert, highly qualified audience.

[ Posted from Marrakech 17th-27th April ] 

INTERPERSONAL links: Holistic Bliss or Tristram Shandy ... III

The INTERPERSONAL domain links are to my mind (no pun intended) fairly obvious, at least that first row complements the SCIENCES top row opposite.

Basically, who needs a talking therapy and who needs a drug therapy?

The two uppermost care domains are intended to represent the INDIVIDUAL axis, so just as the SCIENCES [ANATOMY & PHYS] domain covers physical care; so the INTERPERSONAL domain encompasses emotional and mental health care.

Hodges' model is comprised of four care domains, but it is these two [INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES] applied to the individual that even today we struggle to balance in theory and practice.

A key factor in Brian Hodges' early nursing career (and mine) has been the role of institutions, organisations and the formal policies and structures they represent. This can be depicted as:

EMOTIONAL HEALTH : PHYSICAL HEALTH (both 'individual')
OTHERS family, society : INSTITUTIONS (both 'group')

As to the INTERPERSONAL links themselves - I arrived at mental health through reading a psychology text on Wundt and introspection, then James..... PSYCHOLOGY being of central importance in this domain has two listings, with MENTAL HEALTH and closely related THERAPIES also sharing the top row. I may swap these around: PSYCH-OLOGY as a cognitive science should be placed rightmost, while MENTAL HEALTH and THERAPIES should be further to the left being more 'humanistic'. What do you think?

Do the sciences have to be corralled in the SCIENCES domain? I think I remember Bryan Magee and John Searle in conversation noting that many disciplines with science in their title are probably not sciences - in that upper right hand quadrant sense. Maybe it is just that -

cognitive science : "SCIENCE" (physics, biology, chemistry)
social science : political science

- are still running wild out there, untamed and as yet unbroken? Cognitive science has however, clearly come of age and the 21st century will undoubtedly be the century of the brain when anatomy, physiology and genetics are linked to thought and individual (and even social) behaviour.

Already the content here highlights cognition (thought). The inclusion of other link categories in this upper-left set can be explained with recourse to cogitation. After PSYCHOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY (with ETHICS) is the rather obvious 'ology'.

For better or for worse our culture is driven more by IDEAS and ideology than philosophy. Call it the informal philosophical engine that drives CREATIVITY.

COMMUNICATION lies at the heart of all things human-e. Given the millennia that the patient-physician relationship has been around, you might expect it to be perfected by now. Well health and social care workers and the public they serve are still trying to reach empathic nirvana (although that may be to take communication a bit too far).

Hodges' model has a role to play supporting reflection for all.

IDEAS, COMMUNICATION lead us to belief and a central component in psychological therapies. Belief is also a thread can be used by one individual to lead others positively or to subvert other individual's capacity to think critically. It is in this INTERPERSONAL domain that good and evil are so proximal they create heat, fanned by a culturally driven winds of history and media from the South. Be-life indeed. Here then - THEOLOGY is purposefully placed with TRANSDISCIPLINARITY. If it is to serve humanity Religion must be bound and integrated into the corpus of knowledge and that includes reconciliation with the SCIENCES. We cannot deny myth and yet myth cannot deny evidence - a debate that will go on......

The economic emphasis placed currently on creativity is quite remarkable, not just at a national level (cue ramble...). Cities recognise that their future development, sustainability and very survival depends on the generation and flow of ideas. Some things do not change. In myth a special place has been reserved for the isolated thinker, the one individual who takes themselves away for weeks-months, to be touched by the spiritual realm, to return to the community delivering insight, creative sustenance. Now creative individuals are needed more than ever. The isolation is virtual, the community potentially global. The energies of individuals are directed at solving problems concerning more mundane matters of cost, risk, flexibility and growth. Those creative outputs are distilled through team work and although they are then diluted they remain invaluable - such is the scale of the problems to be solved. Just as the great rivers that feed our cities have their sources - often remote and isolated in the high mountains, so ideas and creativity begin with one individual. That flow of personal knowledge now finally enters the ocean of KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT - EXPERT SYSTEMS (decision support systems).

I have a little mantra that I share with students. It's not perfect as there is much overlap; but I figure that what aptitude is to engineering so attitude is to caring.

HEALTH PROTECTION and PROMOTION, SELF CARE are all about attitude. Of course, money in the form of departmental budgets (those institutions do matter) and family income can make a huge difference, but if the right attitudes are not present then you may as well - "go fish!".

In light of the above STUDY SKILLS and EDUCATION and TRAINING speak for themselves - on this occasion at least. One of the original purposes of Hodges' model was to facilitate reflective practice (more to follow). We are familiar with the mechanical tools in use everyday to the extent they are taken for granted. Now the focus of training is more likely on the software tools that translate IDEAS into art, artefacts and conceptual frameworks.... ;-) These graphical and design tools must be learnt and the HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERFACE and its ACCESSIBILITY 'quotient' can prove to be either a brick wall or a leg-up for the individual user (even if networked or a collaborative tool - see SOCIOLOGY links).

If the SOCIAL domain reflects the worlds of the others, then the last INTERPERSONAL row REST & RECREATION reflects something of me and my family.

"Next!" - the SOCIOLOGY domain links....

Grant: Helmut Veith Stipend for Female Master’s Students in Computer Science

The Helmut Veith Stipend is awarded annually to motivated female students in the field of computer science who pursue (or plan to pursue) one of the master’s programs in Computer Science at TU Wien taught in English.

Helmut Veith Stipend

The Helmut Veith Stipend is dedicated to the memory of an outstanding computer scientist who worked in the fields of logic in computer science, computer-aided verification, software engineering, and computer security. Helmut Veith, who tragically passed away in March 2016, was a strong advocate and mentor for women in computer science. More on Helmut Veith´s research on the pages of his research group FORSYTE (to follow).

Award

Students who are awarded the Helmut Veith Stipend, receive:

• EUR 6000 annually for a duration of up to two years.
• Waiver of all tuition fees at TU Wien.

 

Eligibility

1. Applicants must be eligible for admission to one of the master’s programs in computer science at TU Wien that are taught in English. In 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 those are:

• Master in Logic and Computation
• Master in Business Informatics
• European Master in Computational Logic
• Master in Computer Engineering (Technische Informatik)
• Master in Data Science
• Master in Media and Human-Centered Computing


Continued... Helmut Veith Stipend ...


My source:
Rozman, Mihaela - mihaela.rozman AT tuwien.ac.at

The alchemy of terminology, symbols, and signs ...

Or, 'What is a nurse doing … in a chemistry class?' [Ack. See Estrada]

In reading, I was reminded that chemistry adopted mathematical symbols for its own use. Not only that, but as a core science (with physics and biology, emerging from natural philosophy) there is a historical development from the time of alchemy:

Please see (with a graphical abstract):

C.Wentrup, The Transition from Alchemical to Modern Chemical Symbolism: from Bergman and Guiton de Morveau to Hassenfratz and Adet, Higgins, Richter, Dalton, and Berzelius. ChemPlusChem. 2024, 89, e202400033. https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.202400033

This journey matters today as the use of symbols, in mathematics or other fields can be a barrier to learning and hence personal and disciplinary progress:

Ollie Hunter. Lost in translation: Demystify scientific symbolic language to help your chemistry students overcome any potential learning barriers. Royal Society of Chemistry, 23 May 2022.

As acknowledged many times, it is easy to take a word, or concept from one discipline and 'fit' it to - or in another. Or is it? Estrada concludes:

“The complexities of modern science and modern society have created a need for scientific generalists, for men trained in many fields of science.” This is a paradigm of science in the XXI century, where the advent of such fields like the study of complex systems requires multidisciplinary approaches. But the previous phrase was not written in the XXI century. It is the starting sentence in The education of a scientific generalist” published in Science in 1949 (Bode et al. 1949).' p.161. 

'Mathematics has been defined as the science of patterns. Thus, mathematicians search for “numerical patterns, patterns of shape, patterns of motion, patterns of behavior, voting patterns in a population, patterns of repeating chance events, and so on” (Byers 2010). Once a pattern is identified either in chemistry or in mathematics, the researcher can proceed to the clarification of the systematic rule which is behind that pattern. This is evident in the analogy used here between code-breaking and structure elucidation. This attachment to patterns makes both chemists and mathematicians very prone to the use of pictures. An organic chemist hardly can say anything about the chemical reactivity (or any physical or chemical property) of a molecule from its exact quantum-mechanical Hamiltonian. However, she will construct a complete narrative about the physical and chemical properties of a molecular structure drawn in a piece of paper, even if such a molecule is completely imagined. The power of pictures in mathematics is discussed in the book Mathematics and the Unexpected by Ivar Ekeland (1990) where its value is recognized as fundamental in the early stages of the development of mathematical ideas. This also introduces a very important analogy among chemists and mathematicians. Namely, that they use a proper language in their respective fields. While physicists use the mathematical language in their investigations, chemists use the sophisticated language of chemical formulas and specific symbols to represent charges, rearrangements, partial equilibria, etc. These “invented” languages mainly appear only in Chemistry and in Mathematics, making them unique intellectual activities.' p.162.

With thanks to the author, Ernesto Estrada IFISC for additional thoughts and insights:

Estrada, E. What is a mathematician doing…in a chemistry class?. Found Chem 26, 141–166 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10698-023-09497-4

5th Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media

Call for Contributions

The Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media (MISDOOM) is returning for its 5th edition on 21 and 22 November 2023. This time, the conference will be hosted by the National Research Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI) at Amsterdam Science Park (Netherlands). MISDOOM values multidisciplinary research and is designed to be inclusive of different academic disciplines and practices.

The symposium provides a platform for researchers, industry professionals, and practitioners from various disciplines such as communication science, computer science, computational social science, political science, psychology, journalism, and media studies to come together and share their knowledge and insights on online disinformation.

... details continued ...

My source - ERCIM NEWS posted previously:

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2023/07/ercim-news-134-xai.html

Previous posts: information disorder, misinformation

PJ's project [ii]: Hodges' model An aide mémoire, or candidate Gärdenforsian conceptual space? Or would you like a mint?

This 'project' has in reality been ongoing through some thirty years. Although Hodges' model is by its very nature - broad and generic - I'm sure there is a specific research question here. For me this question combines nursing (theory and practice), informatics, health and public engagement. One possible question that h2cm provokes concerns whether the model can be considered a conceptual space?

Over a couple of years I've been adding to some notes which for want of another I've framed under the question above. These notes inevitably languish for a while given a full-time nursing job (plus learning Drupal, this blog, doing posters ...). Picking the text up recently though the intro material seems to have fallen into place. An introduction should cover the recurring issues, challenges - opportunities found in nursing. Although I have the secateurs in hand and the spring is warm, Hodges' model requires that education and cognitive science are also be considered in this way. Anyway, here is the current working outline:

Hodges' model: A mere aide mémoire, or candidate Gärdenforsian conceptual space?

Abstract

Part 1: Introducing Health & Social Care, Education, Hodges' model

1 Introduction
 1.1 Health and Social Care
 1.2 Recurring Issues in Health and Social Care

2 Education
 2.0 Introduction
 2.1 Education in the 21st Century
 2.2 Issues arising in Education

3 Health Care and Nursing Theory and Hodges' model
 3.0 Introduction
 3.1 Models of Nursing (Care)
  Definitions
 3.2 Hodges' Health Career - Care Domains - Model
 3.3 Information, energy?, records

Part 2: Cognitive Science & Conceptual Spaces

4 Cognitive Science and Computing
 4.0 Introduction
 4.1 Models, contexts, situations, the Project and (Darwinian) Justification
 4.2 Forms of Literacy, Requirements and Socio-Technical Perspectives
 4.3 Computation and Computer Graphics

5 Gardenfors' Conceptual Spaces

 5.0 Introduction

Drawing upon the cognitive science and computing literature the objectives of Gärdenfors’ Conceptual Spaces are made clear from the outset:

‘… is to show that a conceptual mode based on geometrical and topological representations deserves at least as much attention in cognitive science as the symbolic and associationistic approaches’ . p.2.

To what extent is h2cm a geometrical and topological representation? It appears on a simplistic level to qualify as a complex plane (Derbyshire, 2008). In this case, however, the closest we get to imaginary numbers in the negative sense are the null hypotheses of clinical research and reasoning amid uncertainty (REF). Gärdenfors continues:

‘This is a book about the geometry of thought. A theory of conceptual spaces will be developed as a particular framework for representing information on the conceptual level.’ p.2.

Hodges' model provides a framework, but as already noted it is not as yet theory based. It is based on practice, with appeals to experience and the knowledge and skills deployed in the health and social care sector. Could the h2cm framework work with Gärdenfors theory of conceptual spaces and his resulting framework for representing information? When Gärdenfors refers to his book being about the geometry of thought, here I would ask: What have nursing theorists sought? In addition to the stated motivations, surely a geometry of nursing thought? Nursing theorists seek rules and laws for a 'geometry' of care. A geometry of care is no less idealised, no less Platonic in form ultimately reflecting the values of the profession. A geometry of care would clearly be an achievement of harmony in the midst of discord and suffering. Additionally as the nursing discipline appears to some to be compromised in respect of practice, training, attitudes and professionalism.

 5.1 Representation, Explanation and Construction
 5.2 Background on key research methods
 5.3 Gärdenfors conceptual spaces - selected definitions
 5.4 Purposes, Holistic Bandwidth, Safety, Benefits and the Socio-Technical (repetition, move?)

Part 3:

6 Nursing, Care Theory and Care Domains
 6.0 Introduction
 6.1 Indicative literature review
 6.2 H2CM, Research methods and Data, Data, Data, (Data!)

Conceptual Spaces: Process, Practice and Domains - Hodges’ model

Part 4:

Coding and Classification, Ontologies, RDF, Semantic Web
Icons, glyphs, blobs
Patterns, wholes and parts
Users, Purposes and Scope of Application
Drupal and Ruby
Domains and Domain Specific Languages
Closing Discussion

(Back to this post:)
Don't ask why I am doing this. Chaos does reign here - 'Indicative literature review' in the midst...! In my defence these are notes, what's the question? Bits of the text move about, some disappears. Part 4 could become two, or three new parts, but no more than that! To what extent is there a case for M.I.N.T. a Modern Information-oriented Nursing Theory?*

Can you get there from a conceptual framework? When you get on the "conceptual framework" bus, can we simply change the destination to "conceptual space"? Has the academic bus already been and gone, or it drove right past: "Not in Service". Is this too big an ask of a bus? You need a ship to cross an ocean - even one that is illusory.

One thing I am sure of is that the model - #h2cm, this blog #W2tQ, my picking out Drupal, Ruby and the potential of visualization in the social sciences must come together in some way. One can inform the other. There is something really worth doing here. If in the end I don't get to do it well maybe others can finish the piece (the ambiguity here is intentional). Where's that illusory ship....

* M.I.N.T. sounds better than F.I.H.T. - you know cool and refreshing; but I do prefer and we really do need a Future & Information-oriented Health Theory?

Derbyshire, J. (2008). Unknown Quantity, Atlantic Books. p.12.

Gärdenfors, P. (2000). Conceptual Spaces, Cambridge.