The purpose of this article is to describe the research methodology to be utilised when formulating nursing standards. Standards guide the practice and should be formulated within the context of the culture of a country, its philosophical and ethical values, and its social, economic and political development. Two approaches of standard formulation were identified, namely a national generic approach and a decentralised, specific approach. A structured two-phase model is recommended, consisting of a developmental and a quantification phase. In the case of national standards, statistical determination of the content validity of the standards is recommended by means of a content validity index determination of each standard.