Health Services Research (HSR) draws on methods and techniques derived from a variety of disciplines.  As such, different disciplines often use language in different ways. To facilitate understanding across disciplines, the AcademyHealth glossary acknowledges the varied use of terms and suggests a consensus definition for the field of Health Services Research.  Related terms and synonyms are referenced to facilitate translation of terms across the disciplines that comprise HSR. 

Several hundred terms are available in this glossary.  Using the navigation bar to the left, you may view or search for terms three ways.

1) Search for a specific glossary term using the keyword search. 

2) View the full glossary list in alphabetical order.  When viewing the full glossary list you may generate a printer-friendly version by selecting the printer icon next to the global search bar.  Note: the full list is approximately 50 pages long.

3) View terms by research topic.  Select the plus sign next to each of the research topics to view a list of sub-topics.  The list will expand to show a core set of methods terms related to each of the sub-topics.  Over time, additional sub-topics will be listed in this menu.  

Selecting a term from the list will display the definition and supporting material such as suggested further reading, synonyms, related terms, and figures, examples, or equations, where applicable.

You may also view the methods used to develop glossary definitions, and the bibliography of references used to create the HSR Methods glossary. 

Comments on glossary entries are welcomed, and may be submitted to the discussion section of the website (login is required) or sent to [email protected] .