Table 1.

Fawcett and DeSanto-Madeya (2013) Analysis and Evaluation of Conceptual Frameworks Modified by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF)

Questions for analysis of a conceptual framework

Step 1. Origins of the conceptual framework What is the historical evolution of the conceptual framework? What motivated the development of the conceptual framework? On what philosophical beliefs and values about disability is the conceptual framework based? What strategies for knowledge development were used to formulate the conceptual framework? What scholars influenced the conceptual framework authors’ thinking? What world view is reflected in the conceptual framework?

Step 2. Unique focus of the conceptual framework What is the unique focus of the conceptual framework?

Step 3. Content of the conceptual framework in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health framework How are disability and functioning defined and described? How are environmental factors defined and described? How are personal factors defined and described? How is reproductive health defined and described? a What is the goal of the conceptual framework? What statements are made about the relations among disability and functioning, environmental factors, personal factors, and reproductive health?

Questions for evaluation of a conceptual framework

Step 1. Explication of origins Are the philosophical claims on which the conceptual framework is based explicit? Are the scholars who influenced the thinking of the conceptual framework author acknowledged, and are bibliographical citations given?

Step 2. Comprehensiveness of contents in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health framework Does the conceptual framework provide adequate descriptions of disability and functioning, environmental factors, personal factors, and reproductive health? Do the relational propositions of the conceptual framework completely link disability and functioning, environmental factors, personal factors, and reproductive health? Is the practitioner given sufficient direction to be able to make pertinent observations and prescribe and execute a course of action or interventions that achieves the goal specified in a variety of practice situations? Is the researcher given sufficient direction about what questions to ask and what methodology to use? Does the educator have sufficient guidelines to construct a curriculum? Does the administrator have sufficient guidelines to organize and deliver reproductive healthcare to women with physical disabilities? a

Step 3. Logical congruence Does the conceptual framework reflect more than one world view or category of knowledge? Do the components of the conceptual framework consistently reflect logical translation or reformulation of diverse perspectives? Is the conceptual framework logically congruent?

Step 4. Generation of theory What theories have been generated from the conceptual framework?

Step 5. Legitimacy of the conceptual framework Is the conceptual framework a useful guide for examining reproductive health outcomes among women with physical disabilities? Does evaluation of the use of the conceptual framework reveal that the content of the conceptual framework is sound and believable?  Social utility Are education and special skill training required before applying the conceptual framework? Is it feasible to implement practice protocols derived from the conceptual framework and related theories? To what extent is the conceptual framework actually used to guide reproductive care practices, research, education, and administration for women with physical disabilities?  Social congruence Does the conceptual framework meet the expectations of women with physical disabilities and reproductive care providers of various cultures and in diverse geographic regions?  Social significance Does application of the conceptual framework, when linked with relevant theories and appropriate empirical indicators, make important and positive differences in the reproductive health of women with physical disabilities?

Step 6. Contributions to the discipline What is the overall contribution of the conceptual framework to the advancement of reproductive health among women with physical disabilities?

Note. Guiding questions were adapted from Contemporary Nursing Knowledge: Analysis of and Evaluation of Nursing Models (3^rd ed., p. 47–54), by J. Fawcett & S. DeSanto-Madeya, 2013, F. A. Davis Company. Bolded items reflect guiding questions that were modified with content from the ICF from The ICF: An Overview, by World Health Organization, n.d. (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd/icfoverview_finalforwho10sept.pdf)

^aReproductive health is not a construct within the ICF framework. However, it is necessary to consider when evaluating the applicability of the conceptual frameworks to the reproductive health of women with physical disabilities.