Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters

dc.contributor.authorGilson, Lucyen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHanson, Karaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSheikh, Kabiren_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAgyepong, Irene Akuaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSsengooba, Freddieen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBennett, Saraen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-11T06:57:33Z
dc.date.available2016-01-11T06:57:33Z
dc.date.issued2011en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe first paper in this series on building the field of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) [1] outlined the scope and questions of the field and highlighted the key challenges and opportunities it is currently facing. This paper examines more closely one key challenge, the risk of disciplinary capture - the imposition of a particular knowledge frame on the field, privileging some questions and methodologies above others. In HPSR the risk of disciplinary capture can be seen in the current methodological critique of the field, with consequences for its status and development (especially when expressed by research leaders). The main criticisms are reported to be: that the context specificity of the research makes generalisation from its findings difficult; lack of sufficiently clear conclusions for policy makers; and questionable quality and rigour [2]. Some critique is certainly warranted and has come from HPS researchers themselves. However, this critique also reflects a clash of knowledge paradigms, between some of those with clinical, biomedical, and epidemiological backgrounds and those with social science backgrounds. Yet, as HPSR is defined by the topics and questions it considers rather than a particular disciplinary approach, it requires engagement across disciplines; indeed, understanding the complexity of health policy and systems demands multi- and inter-disciplinary inquiry [3].en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGilson, L., Hanson, K., Sheikh, K., Agyepong, I. A., Ssengooba, F., & Bennett, S. (2011). Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters. <i>PLOS Medicince</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16323en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGilson, Lucy, Kara Hanson, Kabir Sheikh, Irene Akua Agyepong, Freddie Ssengooba, and Sara Bennett "Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters." <i>PLOS Medicince</i> (2011) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16323en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGilson, L., Hanson, K., Sheikh, K., Akua Agyepong, I., Ssengooba, F., & Bennett, S. (2011). Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters. PLoS Medicine, 8(8), 1017. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001079en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Gilson, Lucy AU - Hanson, Kara AU - Sheikh, Kabir AU - Agyepong, Irene Akua AU - Ssengooba, Freddie AU - Bennett, Sara AB - The first paper in this series on building the field of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) [1] outlined the scope and questions of the field and highlighted the key challenges and opportunities it is currently facing. This paper examines more closely one key challenge, the risk of disciplinary capture - the imposition of a particular knowledge frame on the field, privileging some questions and methodologies above others. In HPSR the risk of disciplinary capture can be seen in the current methodological critique of the field, with consequences for its status and development (especially when expressed by research leaders). The main criticisms are reported to be: that the context specificity of the research makes generalisation from its findings difficult; lack of sufficiently clear conclusions for policy makers; and questionable quality and rigour [2]. Some critique is certainly warranted and has come from HPS researchers themselves. However, this critique also reflects a clash of knowledge paradigms, between some of those with clinical, biomedical, and epidemiological backgrounds and those with social science backgrounds. Yet, as HPSR is defined by the topics and questions it considers rather than a particular disciplinary approach, it requires engagement across disciplines; indeed, understanding the complexity of health policy and systems demands multi- and inter-disciplinary inquiry [3]. DA - 2011 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001079 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLOS Medicince LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2011 T1 - Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters TI - Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16323 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/16323
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001079
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGilson L, Hanson K, Sheikh K, Agyepong IA, Ssengooba F, Bennett S. Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters. PLOS Medicince. 2011; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16323.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2011 Gilson et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLOS Medicinceen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosmedicineen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth care policyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSocial sciencesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherResearch validityen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth services researchen_ZA
dc.subject.otherScience policyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSocial researchen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBehavioren_ZA
dc.subject.otherMotivationen_ZA
dc.titleBuilding the field of health policy and systems research: social science mattersen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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