- Know how to apply alternative theoretical and conceptual models from a range of relevant disciplines to HSR.
- Apply in-depth disciplinary knowledge and skills relevant to health services research.
- Use knowledge of the structures, performance, quality, policy, and environmental context of health and health care to formulate solutions for health policy problems.
- Pose innovative and important research questions, informed by systematic reviews of the literature, stakeholder needs, and relevant theoretical and conceptual models.
- Select appropriate interventional (experimental and quasi-experimental) or observational (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods) study designs to address specific health services research questions.
- Know how to collect primary health and health care data obtained by survey, qualitative, or mixed methods.
- Know how to assemble secondary data from existing public and private sources.
- Use a conceptual model to specify study constructs for a health services research question and develop variables that reliably and validly measure these constructs.
- Implement research protocols with standardized procedures that ensure reproducibility of the science.
- Ensure the ethical and responsible conduct of research in the design, implementation, and dissemination of health services research.
- Work collaboratively in multi-disciplinary teams.
- Use appropriate analytical methods to clarify associations between variables and to delineate causal inferences.
- Effectively communicate the findings and implications of health services research through multiple modalities to technical and lay audiences.
- Understand the importance of collaborating with policymakers, organizations, and communities to plan, conduct, and translate health services research into policy and practice.