Research: its relationship to higher education.

M ost occupational therapists associate science or research with the university setting. A large percentage of the professiona I education programs in occupational therapy are located in institutions of higher education classified as research universities. Clearly, in occupational therapy as well as in other disciplines, a distinct relationship exists between scientific inquiry and the university sening. The research university has played a m:Jjor roll' in fostering science and helping it to achieve the degree of importance it currently holds in society_ The traditions of this alliance are reflected in university policies as well as in public expect~ltions about science. Moreover. changes in the nature of the relationship, brought aboUl through economic necessity, have a potential effect on all disciplines grounded in science, including occupational therapy. For this reason, a short historical and contemporary analysis of science and research, with implic:Jtions for occupational therapy, se<.:ms appropriate. Like many Olher charactcrisl iC5 of our educational heritage, the research university was imported from Europe, European scientific thinking. which began with Aristolil' and evolved with the minds of great medieval scholars like B:Jcon and later Copernicus. Descartes. and ewton, gradually ovt'rcame tradition, common sense. and authority as the preferred method for gain ing knowledge Aided by the adoption of the xperimental method, mathematics. and instrum nts for extending observation beyond the naked eye, science transformed the world through discovery, thus spawning the creation of societies of scholars who in turn develCharles H. Christiansen