Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

588 Pierre de Bie
Problern-focused research and applied research
Obviously, the distinction between problem-focused research and applied
research is less easy to make; few research workers make this distinction and,
if they do, it is rather verbal than real. In practice, problem-focused research
and applied research are considered as one and the same thing, and both are
contrasted with pure or theoretical research.
Information provided by some Mteen institutions (academies, universities,
research organizations) belonging to different countries, in reply to a question
on their preference for the promotion of free basic research, problem-focused
research or applied research, I I reveals that a few countries, in which scientific
research is highly developed, stress the importance of free basic research - its
actual and indeed rightful importance -, but that a larger number of countries
consider ‘problem-focused’ and ‘applied’ research to be vital.
It is by taking specific examples that applied research can most easily be
differentiated.
The establishment of retail price indices; the calculation of chronological
series; the elaboration, through the use of current techniques, of a sampling
plan allowing of multiple opinion polls; the devising of model maps or dia-
grams to assist the classification and representation of social or economic data -
all these are examples of applied research. In some cases it is the proximity of a
specific and limited practical goal that betokens an applied research project:
ascertaining the distribution of the attitudes of racial groups by re-utilization
of a scale of attitudes; making a study of consumer habits according to social
strata for the purpose of defining a welfare policy; bringing up to date a
description of duties and responsibilities for the purpose of correcting an
organization chart; applying psychological tests with the object of providing
‘pointers’ for a vocational guidance service or a group leader.
Applied research has been deiined as ‘research on the answers to specific
practical problems’. *z In attempting to distinguish clearly between applied
and problem-focused research, recourse must be had to the concept of utilization
and also that of repetition. Applied research is the application and exploitation
of acquired knowledge with a view to its concrete, practical use; typically the
effort involved is often proportionate to, and goes no further than, the prac-
tical usefulness of its results. Often, too, it is simply a matter of repetition:
analytical patterns, conceptual frameworks, techniques and instruments
are reapplied to a specific social reality. This is generally done by services,
research departments and administrations. It involves compiling and processing
a certain number of data and presenting them in a form which is in line with
the technical and conceptual structure of the sciences concerned; this immedi-
ately suggests many areas of research, such as public opinion polls, market
research and even certain studies on social, industrial or organizational relations.
In applied research the progression from study to action is sometimes
shorter and more perceptible; the effectiveness of its results is often better
assured. In comparing applied research with problem-focused research, how-
ever, the distinction should not be strained too far, considering that the differ-
,