|
Methodological Challenges to Management Research
As a discipline, management research is a social science that seeks to
contribute to both theoretical and applied knowledge. To make this
contribution, management research, like all other social science
research, must be conducted in accordance with methodological principles
that ensure the validity and utility of the results. But meeting standards
for vigorous research is not always easy for management researchers.
Health care organizations are complex. Concepts of interest are often
difficult to measure. In this vein, management research presents special
methodological issues and challenges that need to be recognized in any
initiative to support and expand this discipline.
This section discusses the specific challenges
presented by management research - and some strategies for dealing
with them. To illustrate selected strategies, the section offers a
case example of a reviewer critique of a management research proposal -
and the investigators' response to the critique. It also includes
a discussion about using qualitative research for hypothesis testing.
For basic methods of good health services research,
consult the white paper by Lee Sechrest, Ph.D., entitled
Methodological Issues in Management Research, prepared for the MDRC
workshop on Management Research in VA.5
top | next
|
