Operational reaserch for psm exam
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Operational Research - PSM Exam Notes
(Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine)
1. Origin / History
- The term "operational research" was coined during World War II in connection with the best use of a new invention - the radar.
- Since the war, it spread rapidly in Britain and America, eventually encompassing the study of whole systems of services in industry, administration, education, and health services.
2. Definition
"The application of scientific methods of investigation to the study of complex human organizations and services."
Key distinctions (important for MCQs):
| Type | What it studies |
|---|---|
| Pure Research | Fundamental phenomena (e.g., mathematician on atomic structure) |
| Applied Research | Designing new products/plants (e.g., engineer designing a plant) |
| Operational Research | Activities of a group of people with the purpose of inducing beneficial changes |
- OR is a sociological science with an immense social content - this distinguishes it from pure or applied research.
- A new area emerging is called "Health Operational Research" (WHO, 1972).
3. Main Objective
"To develop new knowledge about institutions, programmes, use of facilities, the people working in these activities and the individuals and communities served by them" - in order to secure optimal utilization of resources (men, material, and money) in the service of the community.
4. Phases in Operational Research (7 Steps)
(This is a very high-yield sequence for exams)
- Formulation of the problem
- Collection of relevant data (if necessary, by a suitable sample)
- Analysis of data and formulation of hypothesis
- Deriving solutions from the hypothesis or "model"
- Choosing the optimal solution and forecasting results
- Testing of solution (e.g., pilot projects)
- Implementing the solution in the whole system
Mnemonic: F-C-A-D-C-T-I → "First Collect All Data, Choose Tested Implementations"
5. Operational Research Team
- OR is a team job involving several workers.
- Composition varies with the type of research.
- Minimum composition in social medicine applications:
- Public health administrator
- Epidemiologist
- Statistician
- Social scientist
- Plus ancillary workers: clerks, peons, field workers
- The team is headed by a director responsible for the whole project.
6. Operational Research in Health Services
Virtually everything in public health and social medicine can be the subject of OR. Examples include:
| Problem Area | Example |
|---|---|
| Coverage planning | Optimal size of area/population covered by a midwife or basic health unit |
| Logistics | Ideal vehicle for local health workers |
| Workforce efficiency | Leaving maximum time for technical personnel to utilize their skills |
| Infrastructure | Architectural design of hospitals and health centres |
| Administration | Queuing problems in OPDs and hospital waiting lists |
| Integration | Solutions to integration problems where specialised services developed on emergency basis |
| Bed management | Bed load and nursing services in teaching vs. non-teaching hospitals |
| Duration studies | Length of stay in hospitals; length of sickness absence |
| Programme evaluation | Effectiveness of malaria eradication, family planning programmes |
| Quality | Quality of medical care services |
| Outbreak investigation | Epidemics |
Key concept: Whenever social medicine passes from the stage of observation and classification to that of discovering and recommending appropriate action, it is involved in operational research.
7. Exam High-Yield Points
| Point | Fact |
|---|---|
| Coined during | World War II (for radar) |
| Nature | Sociological science |
| Distinguishing feature from pure/applied research | Social content; deals with group activities |
| Objective | Optimal utilization of resources (men, material, money) |
| Number of phases | 7 |
| Phase 6 | Testing (pilot projects) |
| Minimum team members | 4 (administrator + epidemiologist + statistician + social scientist) |
| Team head | Director |
| WHO reference | WHO (1972) - "The Use of Operational Research in Health Services" |
| Key example topics | Queuing, bed load, midwife coverage area, hospital design |
8. Relationship to Other Research Types
- Pure research - basic science, no immediate application
- Applied research - uses basic science to create products
- Operational research - uses scientific methods to improve functioning of ongoing systems/services by optimizing resource use
- Action research - closely related; OR often leads to action/policy change
Source: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, Chapter on Research Methodology - pp. 792-793
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