Scholarship in OT & Research as Foundation

scholarly knowledge

− Using the knowledge base of the profession

− Evidence-based practice

− Reflective practuce

scholarship

Systematic

• Public, subject to review, part of (professional/discipline) knowledge base

− Develop/contribute to generalizable knowledge

importance of scholarship

growth, development, & vitality of the profession

• Vitally important contributon to profession, academy, & society

scholarship of discovery

‒ The engagement in activity that leads to the development of “knowledge for its own sake”

‒ Original research to expand knowledge base of a discipline

‒ Generating new knowledge

‒ Qualitative research

ex. ethnographic study

scholarship of integration

Making creative connectons both within & across disciplines to integrate, synthesize, interpret, & create new perspectves & theories

‒ Aim is to find the meaning of research findings & interpret the fndings in ways that synthesize isolated facts from within & outside the discipline

• & integrate them to provide a richer & more thorough understanding of the issues

ex. meta-analysis

scholaship of application

Apply the knowledge generated by the Scholarship of Discovery or Integraton to address

real problems at all levels of society— Randomized Control Trial

‒ Focuses on program development and occupatonal therapy interventon

‒ Using knowledge about the value of occupaton as a health determinant to address

health disparites of populations

‒ Often viewed synonymously with knowledge translation

ex. applicaton of theoretical knowledge to practce interventions or to teaching in the classroom

scholarsip of teaching and learning

Involves the systematic study of teaching and/or learning and the public sharing and

review of such work through presentations, publications, and performances

randomized controlled trial (RCT)

a scientific study where participants are randomly assigned to groups to compare different treatments or interventions, with one group receiving the experimental treatment and the other serving as a control

role of research

Supports the theories & conceptual models that are foundations for practice

− Justfies the occupatonal therapy interventons for desirable outcomes

• Assessment

importance of research

− profession’s identity, standing, & social obligation

− Fulflling the economic imperative & the vital role of research to sustain the viability & vitality of the profession

−Health care culture

evidence based practice

• best research evidence

• patient values and preferences

• clincial expertise

sequence of evidence-based practice

1. ask the cinical question

2. search the research literature for the best evidence

3. critically appraise the evidence

4. integrate evidence into the clinical reasoning process along with client preferences & values

5. document & evaluate outcomes or changes observed based on evidence

6. dissemenate the findings to stakeholders

key areas of research

− Efficacy

− Effectiveness

− Practice

− Services

knowledge translation

the synthesis, disseminaton, and applicaton of knowledge and evidence to improve the health of clients and strengthen the greater health system

implementation science

the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-baased practices into routine practice, and, hence to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services and care

classicism

Reasoning that if pure logic was used to connect the natural world to scientific knowledge,then scientific knowledge could be demonstrated to be true (absolute truth)

inductive

generating explanations & theory from specific observations of the natural world

• explanatons & theories are generated from specifc observatons of the natural world

deductive

deriving predictions from existing theory to see if those predictions hold in the natural world

• predictons are derived from existng theory to see if those predictons hold in the natural world

modernism (logical positivism)

Replaced the concern for absolute truth with concern for how to correct errors in knowledge (revisions)

‒ Science as a process of testing & verification of the theory created through inductive reasoning

Relevance to OT: Quantitative research approaches (i.e., testing hypotheses that are rooted in theory)

critical modernism

Argues that theories progress by becoming better at the particular way they make sense of the world

‒ Logic is necessary, not sufficient in and of itself: role of intuition in induction

‒ Research does not prove or disprove theory; it does improve theory

‒ Relevance to OT: Qualitative research approaches (i.e., theories evolve by providing increasingly accurate estmates of the subjective world; perspectives based on observations of people interacting in natural contexts & the perspectives / experiences of those people)

postmodernism

Set of ideas in which scientific knowledge is no more privileged than any other source of knowledge

‒ All knowledge, including scientfic knowledge, is socially constructed

‒ Particular perspective of a particular group of people who have a particular purpose in mind

‒Relevance to OT: Disabilites studies

postmodern perspectives

evident in qualitative research & descriptive quantitative research

purpose of theories

To explain relatonships between concepts & predict how to create change

− In research, it is what makes sense of the phenomena examined, the questons asked, & the mechanisms for addressing problems

contemporary approaches

understand theory in terms of shared knowledge rather than fact