Some researchers focus on using research to advance general knowledge, whereas others use it to solve specific problems. Those who seek an understanding of the fundamental nature of social reality
are engaged in basic research (also called academic research or pure research or fundamental research). Applied researchers, by contrast, primarily want to apply and tailor knowledge to address a
specific practical issue. They want to answer a policy question or solve a pressing social and economic problem.
Basic Research
Basic research advances fundamental knowledge about the human world. It focuses on refuting or supporting theories that explain how this world operates, what makes things happen, why social relations are a certain way, and why society changes. Basic research is the source of most new scientific ideas and ways of thinking about the world. It can be exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory; however, explanatory research is the most common.
Basic research generates new ideas, principles and theories, which may not be immediately utilized; though are the foundations of modern progress and development in different fields. Today’s computers could not exist without the pure research in mathematics conducted over a century ago, for which there was no known practical application at that time. Police officers trying to prevent delinquency or counselors of youthful offenders may see little relevance to basic research on the question, “Why does deviant behavior occur?” Basic research rarely helps practitioners directly with their everyday concerns. Nevertheless, it stimulates new ways of thinking about deviance that have the potential to revolutionize and dramatically improve how practitioners deal with a problem.
A new idea or fundamental knowledge is not generated only by basic research. Applied research, too, can build new knowledge. Nonetheless, basic research is essential for nourishing the expansion of knowledge. Researchers at the center of the scientific community conduct most of the basic research.
Applied Research
Applied researchers try to solve specific policy problems or help practitioners accomplish tasks. Theory is less central to them than seeking a solution on a specific problem for a limited setting. Applied research is frequently a descriptive research, and its main strength is its immediate practical use.
Applied research is conducted when decision must be made about a specific real-life problem. Applied research encompasses those studies undertaken to answer questions about specific problems or to make decisions about a particular course of action or policy. For example, an organization contemplating a paperless office and a networking system for the company’s personal computers may conduct research to learn the amount of time its employees spend at personal computers in an average week.
Basic and Applied Research Compared
The procedures and techniques utilized by basic and applied researchers do not differ substantially.
Both employ the scientific method to answer the questions at hand.
The scientific community is the primary consumer of basic research. The consumers of applied research findings are practitioners such as teachers, counselors, and caseworkers, or decision makers such as managers, committees, and officials. Often, someone other than the researcher who conducted the study uses the results of applied research. This means that applied researchers have an obligation to translate findings from scientific technical language into the language of decision makers or practitioners.
The results of applied research are less likely to enter the public domain in publications. Results may be available only to a small number of decision makers or practitioners, who decide whether or how to put the research results into practice and who may or may not use the results.
Applied and basic researchers adopt different orientations toward research methodology. Basic researchers emphasize high standards and try to conduct near-perfect research. Applied researchers make more trade-offs. They may compromise scientific rigor to get quick, usable results. Compromise is no excuse for sloppy research, however. Applied researchers squeeze research into the constraints of an applied setting and balance rigor against practical needs. Such balancing requires an in-depth knowledge of research and an awareness of the consequences of compromising standards.
Types of Applied Research
Practitioners use several types of applied research. Some of the major ones are:
i) Action research: The applied research that treats knowledge as a form of power and abolishes the
line between research and social action. Those who are being studied participate in the research process; research incorporates ordinary or popular knowledge; research focuses on power with a goal of empowerment; research seeks to raise consciousness or increase awareness; and research is tied directly to political action.
The researchers try to advance a cause or improve conditions by expanding public awareness. They are explicitly political, not value neutral. Because the goal is to improve the conditions of research participants, formal reports, articles, or books become secondary. Action researchers assume that knowledge develops from experience, particularly the experience of social-political action. They also assume that ordinary people can become aware of conditions and learn to take actions that can bring about improvement.
ii) Impact Assessment Research: Its purpose is to estimate the likely consequences of a planned change. Such an assessment is used for planning and making choices among alternative policies – to make an impact assessment of Basha Dam on the environment; to determine changes in housing if a major new highway is built.
iii) Evaluation Research: It addresses the question, “Did it work?” The process of establishing value judgment based on evidence about the achievement of the goals of a program. Evaluation research measures the effectiveness of a program, policy, or way of doing something. “Did the program work?” “Did it achieve its objectives?” Evaluation researchers use several research techniques (survey, field research).
Practitioners involved with a policy or program may conduct evaluation research for their own information or at the request of outside decision makers, who sometime place limits on researchers by setting boundaries on what can be studied and determining the outcome of interest. Two types of evaluation research are formative and assumptive. Formative evaluation is built-in monitoring or continuous feedback on a program used for program management. Assumptive evaluation looks at final program outcomes. Both are usually necessary.
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