Objectives: The studies in biological, behavioral and psychosocial perspectives in nursing research are fundamental in the balanced development of nursing knowledge. Many nursing researchers have placed a strong emphasis on developing
psychological and behavioral aspects of nursing knowledge as is evidenced by the large body of research in these areas. However, the paucity of nursing reaearch using the principles of bilogical science for measurements and techniques have often
invited
open criticism by many nursing researchers. This study attempts to characterize the researches performed in master and doctoral thesis which used physiological variables. Methods: We analyzed masters' thesis from 1962 to 1996 and doctoral
thesis
from 1982 to 1996 listed in CD from Korean Nurses Association. Results: Out of 3060 masters' thesis from 1962 to 1996, 342 (11.2%) thesis used physiological variables whereas 43 (10.1%) doctoral thesis used physiological ones. Number of
thesis
with physiological variables was the highest in Seoul National University for masters' thesis whereas for the doctoral thesis the number was the highest in Yonsei University. The research subjects in these thesis with physiological variables were
mostly
patients (53.5% in masters' and 69.8% in doctoral). Master's thesis often conducted either nonexperimental or survey research (69.9%) whereas experimental research design prevailed vital signs(181 thesis), blood tests(133), body composition(124),
microorganisms(74), gastrointestinal functions(36), lab test(33), drug(21), urinary functions(20), movement(17), Apgar Score(15), reproductive functions(9), skin related functions(6), body fluid and electrolytes(4), parasite(4), metabolism(3),
and
sensory(1), Among the 338 master' thesis which studied the common nursing concepts such as anxiety, pain, stress, and depression, 48(14.2%) thesis utilized physiological variables while 15 out of 35 doctoral thesis addressed these concepts using
physiological variables. Conclusion: In summary, our results indicate that despite the large amount of nursing research performed over the last decades, there are a few nursing researches done with physiological variables either in
masters'
or
doctoral thesis. To enrich nursing knowledge with different perspectives of nursing indluding especially biological ones, the efforts have to be made to conduct bionursing science research.
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