Knowledge Fields and Inner Patterns in Clinical Laboratory Science

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to clarify the knowledge base of clinical laboratory science (CLS). This research was motivated by questions concerning the knowledge base itself and its abilities to meet the demands of reality. The following questions were therefore asked to achieve the purposes of the study:

• What are the knowledge fields and inner patterns in CLS?

• Which research objects could CLS focus on in order to promote development in practice, education, and research?

DESIGN: The findings of the study were arrived at by means of hypothetical-deductive approach and inductive, content analytical strategy. The journal Clinical Laboratory Science of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) provides the source material for the analysis.

SETTING: Åbo Akademi University. Faculty of Social and Caring Sciences.

RESULTS: The findings of the study are discussed in the light of starting points of the theory of science and lead to nine hypotheses concerning CLS.

CONCLUSION: The purpose of the present study was to create clarity in CLS as a science of its own. This has been achieved by capturing and describing facts and qualities, and thereafter presenting fundamental hypotheses in CLS. The results of this study give a thought structure for continued development and deepening within the theory and practice of CLS.

ABBREVIATIONS: ASCLS = American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science; CLS = clinical laboratory science; MT = medical technologist.