Introduction: Research is an intentional process of constructing new knowledge and ideas, promoting the transformation of society. Health professionals must develop positive attitudes towards research since this will improve their professional performance and therefore improve the quality of patient care.
Objective: Identify the attitudes towards research in resident doctors of a public pediatric hospital.
Methods: The study was descriptive cross-sectional; 200 resident doctors were included. The "Research Attitudes Scale (EACIN)" of 39 items was applied. The T-Student test for independent samples was used to determine the difference in the scores of research attitudes, and the variables sex, type of specialty and work experience, while the Mann Whitney U test was used for the weekly work hours variable.
Results: 58.5 % were female, 25 % (48) showed a positive affective attitude, 98 % (196) a positive cognitive attitude, 94 % (188) a positive behavioral attitude. In general, 96 % (192) had a positive attitude and 4 % (8) had a neutral attitude. The score obtained by resident physicians who performed surgical specialties was higher than that of those who performed clinical specialties (115.69 ± 6.02 versus 113.29 ± 5.93; p= 0.012).
Conclusions: Most resident doctors have positive attitudes towards research, which could be beneficial to implement training programs and/or activities related to research in the hospital
