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Martinson BC, Mohr D, Charns M, Bloomfield HE, Nelson DB, Thrush C, Owen R, Bloomfield HE. Initial Results from the Survey of Organizational Research Climates (SOuRCe) in the VA. Poster session presented at: AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting; 2015 Jun 15; Minneapolis, MN.
Objectives: The study will characterize the organizational research climates of 42 VA medical centers (VAMC) using data collected with the Survey of Organizational Research Climate (SOuRCe). Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey with mailed follow-up to non-responders. Data presented for this study represent initial results from an ongoing project to assess the efficacy of survey feedback to VA leaders for motivating and informing organizational change efforts. The SOuRCe was completed by research-engaged employees in the research service of a random selection of 42 VA facilities (e.g. Hospitals/Stations with medium to large research services; Min N = 20, Max N = +600), excluding individuals whose only research involvement was related to regulatory compliance. Results: The SOuRCe was fielded in the Spring of 2014, with email invitations sent to N = 10,157 eligible, research-engaged employees, yielding a cooperation rate of 49.4% (averaging 101 usable surveys per facility). The SOURCE yields 7 scales of organizational research climate: Resources for Responsible Conduct of Research, Regulatory quality, Integrity norms, Integrity socialization, Departmental expectations, Supervisor/Supervisee relations, and Integrity Inhibitors. Six scales demonstrate significant variability (assessed by Type III sums of squares) by whether the researcher also engaged in clinical duties, five scales vary significantly by work-role, while four vary significantly by research area, and three vary significantly by tenure in VA. No significant variability was found for any of the scales between those working exclusively in VA vs. those who split time between VA and non-VA work settings. Implications: This study provides a summary of the organizational research climates in the VA, and documents important variability in local climates for multiple dimensions of research integrity by multiple salient sub-groupings within VAMC. Impacts: The local and specific nature of organizational climates, as reflected in variability across scales and across salient population sub-groups, has important policy implications. It suggests that, in terms of efforts to foster and sustain research integrity, less benefit may be gained through the application of global, "one-size-fits-all" type initiatives, and more gained through efforts that are targeted to specific locations and tailored to the specific weaknesses documented in those locations.
