The major focus of this study was the examination of the propositions advanced by James Dickoff and Patricia James in their characterization of theory and nursing theory. The principal aim of this study was to derive implications for nursing research.

Examination of the four major claims of Dickoff and James showed that each claim was neither discrete and independent nor clearly related to the others. The rank ordering of practice, theory and research was not founded on systematic descriptions of each, nor was the relationship between and among them described. Further examination revealed that the sources cited by Dickoff and James in support of their claims (Francis Bacon, John Dewey and Ernest Nagel) were not accurately represented or consistently translated. It was, therefore, argued that the claims of Dickoff and James, and then of Dickoff and James with Ernestine Weidenbach, as presently formulated, are not instructive to nursing research and, by implication, to nursing practice and nursing education.

Whatever theory is, and whatever claims are made for its grounding, it must eventually provide constraint for its subject matters and its practice. One responsibility of research is the systematic examination of theoretic claims. If possible, research confirms theoretic claims. If theoretic claims are inconsistent or fail to inform practice or do not fulfill the requirements of explanation, then the responsibility of research is to reject theoretic claims. A further responsibility of research and, in this instance, specifically nursing research, is to advance inquiry into theoretical and practical constraints for nursing.

If the theoretical informs the practical, then the bases of nursing research must be identified, described and consistently translated into a variety of practice settings for critical review. If the practical informs the theoretical, then the foci of observation must be identified, described and consistently translated into coherent explanatory statements. Whether research proceeds from the theoretical to the practical or from the practical to the theoretical, the ultimate aims of nursing research must be toward constraining the subject matters and practice of nursing.