Introduction

• This write up is dedicated to the new entrants in the exciting and challenging field of hospital administration and the postgraduate residents pursuing various hospital administration courses.

• Research has become extremely important in today’s circumstances. A few decades back a hospital was being managed by the senior most doctor available in the hospital. Most often they were clinical specialists. They used to take up the job not by virtue of their love for administration but because the aura and authority associated with the position. The clinicians still maintained their loyalty to their specialty. It was possible then as the hospitals used to be very simple organisations.

• It is no longer so. Hospital has now become extremely complex. Managing a hospital now need a trained and knowledgeable hospital administrator. Management has become evidenced based. Evidence comes from research. We fall upon the evidence generated by research in developed countries like USA, UK, and Australia and so on. But India is different. Our socioeconomic milieu, ethnicity, culture, custom, health literacy, education, health related behaviour, accessibility to health care, financing mechanism of health care are all different. Therefore we need to generate our own evidence that fits in with our need. Here lies the importance of research.

• As a saying goes in USA, “Publish or perish”. Similar situation is also gradually coming to India. Now, in teaching institutions, for promotion to higher posts, certain number of publications have become mandatory. Even some institutions have laid down the requirement of teaching experience for the post of medical superintendent. An example is that of Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna. So aspiring young people can no longer escape the rigor of doing research.

• This write up is aimed at writing a research paper for publication in a journal and not for thesis writing. Most aspects of both of these are basically similar.

• The following paragraphs now briefly describe the various sections of a research paper.

• Please remember, research is an academic activity. Research comprises :

(a) Defining and redefining problems (b) Formulating hypothesis ◊ This means a suggested solution for the problem (c) Collecting, organising and evaluating data (d) Making deductions (e) Reaching conclusions, and Carefully testing the conclusion to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis

• In short, research is an original contribution to the existing knowledge base and by this advancement of the discipline is made

• In medical and hospital administration research usually no hypothesis is formulated

• The material for this write up has been obtained from various sources including books, published articles, personal discussions, and own experience of guiding thesis and reviewing articles for journals. The sources are given in bibliography.