title: How important is theory in health informatics? A survey of UK academics.
abstract: The disciplinary status of health informatics remains unclear. Is it an art or a science? Does it have a body of theory? A survey was devised for UK academics that teach or research health informatics. Forty-six responses were received, twenty-five from the target group (representing between a quarter and a third of the population of interest). Health informatics is not perceived to have a well-known and clearly definable body of theory, but there is a clear demand for a more theoretical basis for the discipline. Journals and conferences were rated as the best sources of theory and seven key textbooks were identified.
authors: Centre for Healthcare Modelling and Informatics, University of Portsmouth, UK. Philip.scott@post.ac.uk
authors: Philip
authors: P
authors: Scott
authors: James
authors: J
authors: Briggs
authors: Jeremy
authors: J
authors: Wyatt
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Georgiou
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000379:methods*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom