Functions of Institutional Research in Iran and Universities of Medical Sciences around the World: A Systematic Review

Mohammad Ali  Nemati; Abbas  Abbaspour; Vida  Sepahi

Educational Research in Medical Sciences

Current Issue All Issues In Press Accepted Manuscripts Search

Journal Information Editors and Boards Indexing and Listing Sources Journal Metrics Reviewer and AE Registration Form Open Peer Review (OPR)Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement Support Contact Us

Authors Guide Submit Manuscript

Functions of Institutional Research in Iran and Universities of Medical Sciences around the World: A Systematic Review

Authors:

Mohammad Ali Nemati ^1,*,

Abbas Abbaspour ¹,

Vida Sepahi ²

1Dept. of Educational Management and Planning, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2Ph.D. student of Management of Higher Education, School of Graduate Studies, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Educational Research in Medical Sciences:Vol. 6, issue 2; e79651

Published online:Jan 27, 2017

Article type:Review Article

Received:Oct 09, 2017

Accepted:Nov 08, 2017

How to Cite:Mohammad Ali Nemati Abbas Abbaspour Vida Sepahi Functions of Institutional Research in Iran and Universities of Medical Sciences around the World: A Systematic Review.6(2):e79651.

Abstract

Introduction: Institutional research (IR) refers to the process of guiding academic research works and its relation with policy and practice, so as to enhance the quality of university. The present research is aimed at investigating functions of IR across universities of medical sciences in Iran and the world.

Methods: In this review study, the required resources were collected by systematically searching Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, AIR, and ERIC databases using the following keywords: Institutional, Research, Association for Institutional Research, and Institutional Research. For this purpose, firstly, a total of 186 papers related to IR were considered, of which 35 IR-related papers published during 1966-2017 period were finally selected.

Results: Results of investigations performed at national and international levels show that IR not only provides its four main functions as information authority, spin doctor, policy analyst, and scholar and researcher but also offers other functions such as knowledge management, information management, strategic planning, accreditation, and university-industry interaction facilitation.

Conclusion: Decision-making units in universities of medical sciences in Iran include centers for studies and development of medical science education as well as policy-setting councils. Activities of these centers indicate that six out of 18 IR activities proposed by Volkwein were covered, and for other activities no particular task was planned for either these two units or other units of the university, and most likely, no particular precedent study is performed to support policy analysis and researching. This conclusion can serve as a guide for thinking and taking action for establishing an office of institutional research in every university across the country.

Keywords

Institutional research

Fulltext

The full text of this article is available on PDF.

References

1.
The references of this article is available on PDF.

comments