Research barriers from experts’ viewpoints who attended the research workshops of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Introduction. Experts who work in the medical center could play a significant role in doing research directed to the prevention and treatment of the diseases. The aim of the present study was to identify personal and organizational barriers in order to do the research expressed by the experts who participated in the workshop. Methods. This study was a descriptive research, in which the viewpoints of 250 experts who attended an educational seminar on research from 2007 to 2009 were selected by the census. To collect the data, a valid and reliable questionnaire, in Likert scale, consisting of 3 parts, individual characteristics, personal and organizational barriers were applied. The data report was done by using the T-test and the analysis of variance. An exploratory factor analysis was also conducted to summarize the data and to classify the questionnaire variables. Results. From the 250 distributed questionnaires, 213 (85.2%) were returned. The most important personal barriers of research were spare time and lots of work. The most important organizational barrier was the lack of motivation from the managers. The factor analysis revealed a lack of knowledge and information, inadequate time and lots of work and a lack of incentive, as a personal barrier, and inadequate organizational support, inadequate consultant and library services, insufficient facilities for sampling, poor access to the samples and methods of doing research, not enough cooperation of the colleagues, poor facilities and counseling were identified as organizational barriers. Conclusion. Recognizing personal and regulatory barriers in research for the working experts who attended the educational workshop of research methodology could help the managers and the officials remove these obstacles and in turn use the manpower of the university sufficiently.