Knowledge that Transforms

The unique contribution of science lies in its combination of deductive and inductive methods for the development of reliable knowledge. The methodological problems of the basic sciences are shared by the applied fields. Administrative science will demand a focus on relationships, the use of abstract concepts, and the development of operational definitions. Applied sciences have the further need for criteria of measurement and evaluation. Present abstract concepts of administrative processes must be operationalized and new ones developed or borrowed from the basic social sciences. Available knowledge in scattered sources needs to be assembled and analyzed. Research must go beyond description and must be reflected against theory. It must study the obvious as well as the unknown. The pressure for immediately applicable results must be reduced. The author is a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, Cornell University.'

The author views the psychiatric hospital as a small society, and sees administrative procedures as part of the structure of this society. Some of the special aspects of the over-all social structure of psychiatric hospitals are described, and an attempt is made to show how these structural aspects influence the nature of the interrelations between the administrative and therapeutic processes in the hospital. In this sense, the hospital is seen by the anthropologist as a particularly advantageous context within which to study the wider problem of physiological, psychological, and social variables in illness and its treatment. Illustrative examples are drawn from current literature in the area of social science and medicine and from the author's own work in psychiatric hospitals in the United' States and' Japan. The author is on the faculty of the Department of Social Relations at Harvard' University.

In a purposive human organization one of the major problems is how to relate the different positions in the organization in a manner most effective for meeting the needs of the organization as well as the needs of the persons in the various positions. It is suggested that one of the major functions of organizational administration is to see that both needs are met, if the organization is to operate effectively. In this context a military medical research organization, concerned with psychiatric and related topics, is analyzed. Positions in this organization were related in terms of two often conflicting criteria-professional research skill and military rank. Some of the problems that arose through the application of these conflicting criteria in relating organization positions are indicated. The role of the administrator is analyzed with respect to this type of conflict situation and in relation to organizational effectiveness. The author is a staff member in the Sloan Institute of Hospital Administration and in the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, Cornell University.