How important is theory in health informatics? A survey of UK - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
How important is theory in health informatics? A survey of UK academics Oral presentation at MIE 2011, 30 August, Oslo Dr Philip Scott, Dr Jim Briggs, University of Portsmouth, UK Prof Jeremy Wyatt, University of Warwick, UK Dr Andrew
Dr Philip Scott, Dr Jim Briggs, University of Portsmouth, UK Prof Jeremy Wyatt, University of Warwick, UK Dr Andrew Georgiou, University of New South Wales, Australia
Ø Is health informatics a mature discipline?
Ø Even the name and definition remains debatable Ø Kuhn (1962): pre-paradigm à ‘normal science’ Ø Paradigm embodies fundamental ontology/theories Ø Theory consolidates knowledge and exposes it to test Ø Like a map: How good is ours?
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Ø Why should we care about “disciplinary maturity”?
Ø Professional credibility: How reliably can we advise
clinicians, service managers, policy makers?
Ø Aim of study: How are theory and disciplinary
maturity perceived in the HI academic community?
Ø What is the level of interest? Ø What are the relevant sources? Ø What should a review take into account?
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Ø Web-based survey instrument devised Ø Advertised via existing email lists and websites Ø Likert scale questions treated as interval data, so
mean and confidence interval calculated
Ø Free text comments analyzed thematically Ø Target population: UK HI academics Ø Unknown population size, estimated 75-100
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MIE2011 Slide 5 of 11 Dr Philip Scott Item Question Text Academics Practitioners n Mean SD 95% CI n Mean SD 95% CI 1 Theory is important in teaching health informatics 31 1.7 0.6 1.5-1.9 15 2.1 0.7 1.8-2.5 2 Theory is important in researching health informatics 31 1.6 0.5 1.5-1.8 15 2.2 0.5 1.9-2.5 3 Health informatics has its own distinct body of theory 31 2.8 1.1 2.4-3.2 15 2.8 1.1 2.2-3.4 4 Health informatics is a mature academic discipline 31 3.6 1.1 3.2-4.0 15 3.9 0.7 3.5-4.2 5 Theory is irrelevant to health informatics practitioners 29 3.9 1.0 3.6-4.3 15 3.4 1.3 2.8-4.0
‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5
N=46, 25 from target group, also 6 non-UK academics
MIE2011 Slide 6 of 11 Dr Philip Scott Item Question Text Academics Practitioners n Mean SD 95% CI n Mean SD 95% CI 6 Health informatics is not a credible distinct profession 30 3.8 1.1 3.4-4.2 15 3.4 1.4 2.7-4.1 7 Theory in health informatics is mostly tacit rather than explicit 30 2.8 0.9 2.5-3.2 13 2.4 0.7 2.0-2.8 8 Health informatics theory is no less mature than social or organizational theory 25 3.2 1.0 2.9-3.6 14 3.6 0.8 3.2-4.1 9 Theories from other domains are sufficient for health informatics 30 3.8 1.1 3.4-4.2 15 3.3 1.1 2.8-3.9 10 Health informatics is usually evidence based 31 3.3 1.0 2.9-3.7 15 3.0 1.1 2.4-3.6
‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5
Disagree even though it is not a mature discipline
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‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5
Item Question Text Academics Practitioners n Mean SD 95% CI n Mean SD 95% CI 11 Published evaluation reports are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 30 3.2 1.0 2.8-3.6 15 2.7 1.0 2.2-3.2 12 Systematic reviews are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 31 2.9 1.1 2.5-3.3 15 2.5 0.8 2.1-2.9 13 Health informatics textbooks are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 30 2.3 1.0 2.0-2.7 15 2.7 0.9 2.3-3.2 14 Government strategy documents are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 31 3.6 1.1 3.2-4.0 14 3.1 1.1 2.5-3.6
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‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5
Item Question Text Academics Practitioners n Mean SD 95% CI n Mean SD 95% CI 15 Published views of health informatics teachers and researchers are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 31 2.5 1.0 2.2-2.9 13 2.5 0.8 2.0-2.9 16 Professional standards developed by the health informatics community are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 30 2.6 1.1 2.2-3.0 15 2.5 1.0 2.0-3.0 17 Journals and conference proceedings are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 31 2.0 0.7 1.7-2.3 14 2.2 0.9 1.8-2.7
Ø Demand for theoretical basis is confirmed Ø Theory also relevant for practitioners Ø Theories from other domains not sufficient Ø Likely sources for HI theory review identified
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Ø Considering meta-narrative review (relating ‘storylines’
Ø Concrete starting point is formal review of HI outcome
variables: frequently constructs
Ø Welcome discussion with potential further collaborators
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Ø Philip.Scott@port.ac.uk
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