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 Georgiou, University of New South Wales, Australia Presenter: Dr Philip Scott

Background 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? MIE2011 Slide 2 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Aims and objectives 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? MIE2011 Slide 3 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Methods 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 MIE2011 Slide 4 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Results N=46, 25 from target group, also 6 non-UK academics Academics Practitioners Item Question Text 95% 95% n Mean SD CI n Mean SD CI 1 Theory is important in teaching health 31 1.7 0.6 1.5-1.9 15 2.1 0.7 1.8-2.5 informatics 2 Theory is important in researching 31 1.6 0.5 1.5-1.8 15 2.2 0.5 1.9-2.5 health informatics 3 Health informatics has its own distinct 31 2.8 1.1 2.4-3.2 15 2.8 1.1 2.2-3.4 body of theory 4 Health informatics is a mature 31 3.6 1.1 3.2-4.0 15 3.9 0.7 3.5-4.2 academic discipline 5 Theory is irrelevant to health 29 3.9 1.0 3.6-4.3 15 3.4 1.3 2.8-4.0 informatics practitioners ‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5 MIE2011 Slide 5 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Results Disagree even though it is not a mature discipline Academics Practitioners Item Question Text 95% 95% n Mean SD CI n Mean SD CI 6 Health informatics is not a credible 30 3.8 1.1 3.4-4.2 15 3.4 1.4 2.7-4.1 distinct profession 7 Theory in health informatics is mostly 30 2.8 0.9 2.5-3.2 13 2.4 0.7 2.0-2.8 tacit rather than explicit 8 Health informatics theory is no less 25 3.2 1.0 2.9-3.6 14 3.6 0.8 3.2-4.1 mature than social or organizational theory 9 Theories from other domains are 30 3.8 1.1 3.4-4.2 15 3.3 1.1 2.8-3.9 sufficient for health informatics 10 Health informatics is usually evidence 31 3.3 1.0 2.9-3.7 15 3.0 1.1 2.4-3.6 based ‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5 MIE2011 Slide 6 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Results Academics Practitioners Item Question Text 95% 95% n Mean SD CI n Mean SD CI 11 Published evaluation reports are a key 30 3.2 1.0 2.8-3.6 15 2.7 1.0 2.2-3.2 place to find statements of health informatics theory 12 Systematic reviews are a key place to 31 2.9 1.1 2.5-3.3 15 2.5 0.8 2.1-2.9 find statements of health informatics theory 13 Health informatics textbooks are a 30 2.3 1.0 2.0-2.7 15 2.7 0.9 2.3-3.2 key place to find statements of health informatics theory 14 Government strategy documents are a 31 3.6 1.1 3.2-4.0 14 3.1 1.1 2.5-3.6 key place to find statements of health informatics theory ‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5 MIE2011 Slide 7 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Results Academics Practitioners Item Question Text 95% 95% CI CI n Mean SD n Mean SD 15 Published views of health informatics 31 2.5 1.0 2.2-2.9 13 2.5 0.8 2.0-2.9 teachers and researchers are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 16 Professional standards developed by 30 2.6 1.1 2.2-3.0 15 2.5 1.0 2.0-3.0 the health informatics community are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory 17 Journals and conference proceedings 31 2.0 0.7 1.7-2.3 14 2.2 0.9 1.8-2.7 are a key place to find statements of health informatics theory ‘Strongly Agree’=1, ‘Agree’=2, ‘Neutral’=3, ‘Disagree’=4, ‘Strongly Disagree’=5 MIE2011 Slide 8 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Conclusions 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 MIE2011 Slide 9 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Future directions Ø Considering meta-narrative review (relating ‘storylines’ of theory-making) Ø Concrete starting point is formal review of HI outcome variables: frequently constructs Ø Welcome discussion with potential further collaborators MIE2011 Slide 10 of 11 Dr Philip Scott

Thank you – Questions please Ø Philip.Scott@port.ac.uk MIE2011 Slide 11 of 11 Dr Philip Scott