Empiric and creative: Are these opposed?

Abstract

We feel proud that Families, Systems, and Health disseminates different ways of knowing, and different ways of influencing thought: empiric work such as research papers and conceptual papers in contrast to creative work such as personal narrative, poetry, and 55-word stories. In this issue, we feature an interview with Dr. Julie Phillips, a family physician, scholar, and poet, who has contributed both research papers and creative manuscripts to the medical literature. Our commitment to publishing creative writing is balanced by our longstanding pursuit of scientific knowledge, which also requires creative thinking. In this issue, three knowledgeable scholars and members of our discipline set forth a call for papers for a special issue. Jodi Polaha, Ph.D., Jennifer S. Funderburk, Ph.D., and Deborah Cohen, Ph.D. will be the guest editors of a future issue blending two goals. We want to help our readers learn how to study their innovations and describe their learning so others can benefit. This special issue of Families, Systems, and Health seeks contributions from authors willing to help others learn to generate generalizable learning. In the process of doing this, we hope they will share the results of their studies to improve, implement, and disseminate integrated health care. (PsycINFO Database Record