A Study on the Factors Affecting the Infant Feeding PracticesOf Mothers in Las Pias CityBy [Author], University of the Philippines2009AbstractTheabstractstarts on the next page, page 2. The text starts at the top, left flushed, double-spaced.Abstract[Abstract here]

Body TextThe body text starts on the next page, page 3. The text starts at the top, left flushed, double-spaced.IntroductionThe melamine controversy that erupted during the last quarter of year 2008 brought peoples attention back to the debates between breastfeeding and the use of breast milk substitutes like commercial infant formula. This wasnt the first time that infant formula had caused illnesses and even deaths to infants worldwide - hence the continuous campaign of World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF along with other breastfeeding advocates, for mothers to breastfeed their children at least until 6 months of age.Infant feeding practices refer generally to meet the nutritional and immunological needs of the baby. A study of infant feeding practices was carried out on a sample of 100 mother and infant pairs. The results revealed that only 20% of mothers in the study currently exclusively breastfeed their babies. It also shows that socio-economic factors like mothers work status, marital status and educational attainment had direct bearing on these practices. Employed mothers tend to cease from breastfeeding their babies and eventually stop and just resort to formula feeding as they go back to work. The study also showed that mothers who are married and living with their partners are more likely to breastfeed their infants than single mothers. Those with higher educational attainment resort more to formula feeding and mixed feeding than those with lower educational attainment. Health care professionals influence mothers the most when it comes to infant feeding decisions.MethodologyType of ResearchThe type of research that will be used in this study is qualitative research and quantitative research. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior. The discipline investigates the why and how of decision making. Besides this, the researcher will also examine the phenomenon through observations in numerical representations and through statistical analysis. Along with questionnaires that will be given out to respondents for the statistical representation of the findings in the study, interviews with the respondents and a few experts in this field will also be conducted.Sampling MethodThe research sampling method that will be used in this study is random sampling to obtain a more scientific result that could be used to represent the entirety of the population. A list of all health care facilities (maternity and lying-in clinics, public and private hospitals, health centers) was acquired from the Las Pias City Hall.From 20 barangays, 3 will be picked through random sampling. The health care facilities and institutions in these three barangays will then be the target sources of respondents of the researcher. The health care facilities and institutions will be contacted to obtain a verbal consent to administer the questionnaire to mothers at their places. A letter of consent will also be sent to them along with a sample copy of the questionnaire that will be used, as well as the protocol of the researcher. A letter was also addressed to the City Health Officer to obtain endorsement and consent to conduct a research in selected barangays and distribute questionnaires to the mothers in the vicinity.Data collection was conducted throughout the facilities and health centers operating hours from Mondays through Sundays in order to include both working and non-working mothers.RespondentsThe respondents in this research will all be coming from one single location - Las Pias City, specifically the randomly selected barangays of Pamplona I, CAA/BF International and Pamplona III. The researcher chose Las Pias City because of the socio-economic conditions present in the area that is relevant to the study and also as it fits the time frame and resources of the researcher. The randomly sampled respondents will be asked by the researcher for consent and approval to answer the questionnaire until the desired number of respondents which is 100 is reached. The opinion of experts will also be sought in this research to provide explanations regarding the respondents infant feeding behaviors and practices.QuestionnaireThe questionnaire requires information about the socio-economic and demographic background of the mother. It also has questions related to previous infant feeding practices and the birth of her youngest infant and also regarding the babys general health and age.Statements that are perceived to be factors that influence mothers infant feeding decisions were presented. The description of the type of infant formula given by formula and mixed feeding mothers will also be asked in the material.ConclusionMajority of the mothers formula feed their child and only a minority exclusively breastfeeds their children, especially as per recommendation of the World Health Organization. While majority of the mothers in this study showed a positive attitude towards breastfeeding, most of them decided only to formula feed due to the reasons of insufficient milk supply and work.Based on the results of the study, the educational attainment, work status, marital status, and seminars in the barangay the respondents are part of, about breastfeeding, are the significant factors that affect the infant feeding decision of mothers in Las Pias City.Majority of the mothers that served as respondents in this study fall under the age range of 17-30 years old. More than half of them were also college graduates while a significant number are undergraduates and have only reached until high school. Most of the mothers are housewives and the others remaining have full-time jobs, part-time jobs and self-employed. A few of them are still students. While majority of them were married, a lot were still in a status of live-in and are single. More than half of the mothers did not have previous children before the current one. Majority of the respondents also have an annual gross household income that does not exceed P50,000.Among the several information sources namely, media through televisions/radios and printed/published materials, the social support system comprised of the mothers family, friends and other relatives and health institutions, the mothers who give their babies infant formula are influenced the most by health care institutions through health professionals and other health care personnel. They influence the mothers in deciding to feed the baby with formula and in choosing, as well, which brand of formula is best for their babies. Mothers trust their babys doctor because of their expertise in the said field hence this kind of relation is achieved.Mothers were overall not concerned about the possible side effects of breastfeeding as a few were only worried as shown in the data presented.It can be concluded that numerous internal as well as external factors influence a mother in making infant feeding decisions, and a greater fraction of these is socio-economic in nature.

Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis--a valid method for developing knowledge in nursing science.Tofthagen R1,Fagerstrm LM.Author informationAbstractIn nursing science, concept development is a necessary prerequisite for meaningful basic research. Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis is a method for developing knowledge in nursing science. The purpose of this article is to present Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis as a valid scientific method. A brief description of the evolutionary process, from data collection to data analysis, with the concepts' context, surrogate and related terms, antecedents, attributes, examples and consequences, is presented. The phases used in evolutionary concept analysis are illustrated with eight actual studies (1999-2009) from nursing research. The strength of the method is that it is systematic, with a focus on clear-cut phases during the analysis process, and that it can contribute to clarifying, describing and explaining concepts central to nursing science by analysing how a chosen concept has been used both within the discipline itself and other health sciences. While an interdisciplinary perspective which stresses the similarities and dissimilarities of how a concept is used in various disciplines can increase knowledge of a concept, it is important to clarify the specific with the discipline. Nursing research should focus on the unambiguous use of concepts, for which Rodgers' method constitutes a possible method. The importance of using quality criteria to determine the inclusion of material should, however, be emphasised in the continued development of the method.Rodgers Evolutionary Concept Analysis Concept analysis is related to the process of concept development. Rodgers asserts that the concept development cycle considers the application, significance, and use of a concept (2000). Rodgers (2000) evolutionary concept analysis involves the use phase of development. There are six iterative phases that include the following activities: 1) identifying the name and concept of interest and association expressions, 2) identifying and selecting the appropriate setting, 3) collecting the data 4) analyzing the data, 5) identifying an exemplar of the concept, and 6) identifying implications, hypotheses, and implications for further development of the concept. The intention of this type of inductive approach to concept analysis is to establish a10 foundation for future development of the concept in contrast to a static, universal set of criteria (Rodgers, 2000). These six phases will provide the framework to guide the analysis of the concept of professional practice discussed in this paper. Rationale for selecting Rodgers evolutionary concept analysis. The selection of Rodgers (1989, 2000) evolutionary concept analysis to explore the concept of nursing professional practice was made for several reasons. As noted earlier, I believe the concept of nursing professional practice has evolved through contextual influences; therefore, Rodgers approach would be congruent with the development of the topic to date. The heuristic nature of the method supports the intent of a masters program major project to provide a foundation for further inquiry into the concept. Finally, the dynamic and contextual nature of this method is congruent with the largely accepted perspective in nursing (commonly associated with the interpretive perspective) that humans are ever changing and interact with the environment to establish their health (Rodgers, 2000).11 Chapter 2 Evolutionary Concept Analysis Step 1: Identify the Concept of Interest and Associated Expressions Rodgers (2000) described a concept as an idea or the characteristics associated with the word (p. 85) and not the word itself. The concept of interest I have chosen is nursing professional practice. Surrogate terms [words that say the same thing or have something in common with the chosen concept (Rodgers, 1989)] for nursing professional practice include professional nursing practice, professional practice, nursing practice, professional or professionalism and practice. These terms are considered antecedents in the analysis, but are discrete terms from the combined concept of professional practice. Another important initial decision of the evolutionary conceptual analysis process is to determine the direction or context of the analysis (Rodgers, 2000). I have chosen to explore the concept of nursing professional practice in the context of the Canadian nursing perspective. Step 2: Identify and Select the Appropriate Setting Rodgers (2000) defines the setting of an evolutionary concept analysis as the time period to be explored and the type of disciplinary literature to be included. I have selected nursing literature between 2005- 2011 as the setting. I have selected this period to ensure I am informed by literature with a recent health care context perspective. The type of disciplinary literature I have used includes peer-reviewed literature and grey literature. To obtain the peer reviewed literature sample for this concept analysis I searched the CINAHL and ERIC online databases. I selected these databases as they are recognized as repositories for nursing and education related12 literature. The key words used for CIHAHL and ERIC included professional practice as title and nursing as a subject. To obtain grey literature sources I used Library and Archives of Canada, Google Canada as an internet search engine. Rodgers (2000) identified the use of grey or popular literature as a strategy to include in conducting a concept analysis. Grey literature are documents that are not formally published or research based but provide key information from a convergence of experience or ideas (RNAO, 2007). Grey literature sources selected for this project were from established government, health authority, professional association, union, and regulatory college websites. Step 3: Collect the Data Due to the fore mentioned indistinctness regarding the concept of nursing professional practice (Mark, Salyer, & Wan, 2003) a multi step exploratory literature search was used to determine the limits which included articles from 2005- 2011 and the search terms professional practice as a title and nursing as a subject (Figure 1). The final step of the search using these limits revealed 75 citations. I determined which of the 75 peer reviewed literature citations and nursing grey literature were ultimately included in the concept analysis using the following criteria. Inclusion criteria. 1. Nursing professional practice should be the focus of the article;Materials &Methods:Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis method was used to facilitate clarification of transition concept in nursing. The search, performed on scientific databases using the keywords: ' transition', 'nursing student' and ' new graduate nurse' covering the period 1999 to 2010 represented concerning nursing. Search limited to english-language articles and the full text and all research and review articles were compiled. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 30 articles included for the final analysis. The process was audited by one independent expert to ensure neutrality and credibility of the study and to reduce the potentials for bias.Result:This study showed that the concept of transition has five basic and global properties: process, disconnectedness, personal perception, awareness, and human responsepatterns. Thisconcepthasalsopositive &negative consequences.Positive consequences of transition in novice nurses are from felt empowerment and more power to promote quality of patient care and increased cost -effectiveness. Negative consequences are anxiety, separation, incompetence to job dissatisfaction, decreased quality of patient care.Not a Concept. Concept learning must be distinguished from learning by reciting something from memory (recall) or discriminating between two things that differ (discrimination). However, these issues are closely related, since memory recall of facts could be considered a "trivial" conceptual process where prior exemplars representing the concept are invariant. Similarly, while discrimination is not the same as initial concept learning, discrimination processes are involved in refining concepts by means of the repeated presentation of exemplars.Concrete or Perceptual Concepts vs Abstract ConceptsDefined (or Relational) and Associated ConceptsComplex Concepts. Constructs such as aschemaand a script are examples of complex concepts. A schema is an organization of smaller concepts (or features) and is revised by situational information to assist in comprehension. A script on the other hand is a list of actions that a person follows in order to complete a desired goal. An example of a script would be the process of buying a CD. There are several actions that must occur before the actual act of purchasing the CD and a script provides a sequence of the necessary actions and proper order of these actions in order to be successful in purchasing the CD.Overview of Theory Construction

Theory (functional definition): A theory is a set of constructs, definitions, and propositions that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables for the purpose of explaining, describing, and predicting phenomena.

Theory (formal definition): A theory is a collection of 1) primitive terms; 2) terms defined on the basis of the primitives and/or previous definitions; 3) assumptions about the nature of and relationships between the terms; and 4) propositions derived from the various definitions, primitives, and assumptions, as well as from previous propositions.