what do you think is practical research all about

But What’s It All For? Putting Practical Theories into Action

• Applied Psychology

Research carried out by psychological scientists has brought about countless advances in humanity’s well-being, equipping clinical practitioners, policymakers, and the public to improve our physical and mental health—but, in  Perspectives on Psychological Science , APS Fellow Elliot T. Berkman and Sylas M. Wilson (University of Oregon)  suggest a number of incentives to support the development of even more actionable theories  in the face of what they term a “practicality crisis.” 

“We study topics that can so easily be applied to everyday life, yet rarely do we go out of our way to make the case of our relevance to the general public,” Berkman and Wilson wrote. “Psychological theory might be developed in the lab, but an important purpose of this work is for the theories to be exported to other disciplines in which it can be put to use.” 

Practical theories, Berkman and Wilson explain, include theoretical components like causal predictions and hypothesis testing, but they primarily aim to uncover evidence-based steps people can take to address real-world problems, specifying the people and conditions to which the findings apply. This often involves community-engaged participatory research that incorporates feedback not just from participants in the lab but from the practitioners and members of the public who will make use of the research. 

“The deeper tension between basic and applied work hinges on the question of universality,” Berkman and Wilson wrote. “Psychological theory is often formulated as though it might apply to all humanity at all times. Third-century Roman peasants are just as likely to become ego-depleted as 18th-century Qing royalty. Practical theory is not necessarily anchored to a specific time, place, and culture, but it needs to be contextualizable in a realistic way to be useful to practitioners.” 

Researchers studying self-control, for example, have identified and developed numerous methods for improving emotional and behavioral regulation, including setting goals, changing one’s environment, and committing to actions in advance. Practical theories have also led to significant advances in mental health treatments and interventions related to inequality and intergroup conflict. 

Practicality in publishing 

It is relatively common for journals on medicine, human physiology, and clinical psychology to evaluate submissions on the basis of their potential to impact practice, Berkman and Wilson wrote. In an analysis of the 10 most-cited multidisciplinary psychology journals, the researchers found that just two required researchers to provide a description of their findings’ significance to society, and only one required that articles should be understandable by the public. 

“Psychological theory, particularly in social psychology, was once viewed as an instrument for addressing issues of pressing societal importance,” Berkman and Wilson wrote. “Theories are now evaluated mainly on their ability to account for decontextualized laboratory data and not their ability to help solve societal problems.” 

Berkman and Wilson took a closer look at the  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , the most-cited journal on social psychology, by coding 360 articles published between 2012 and 2016 on the basis of six criteria: specificity of the issue addressed, understandability to someone at the general public’s reading level, relevance to the population studied, conceptualization of a theory that can be used by nonscientists, prescription of actionable next steps, and dissemination of the results in an accessible format. Two research assistants scored each paper on each criterion, using a scale from 0% to 100%. 

The average practicality score across papers, reflecting all six criteria, was 42.5%, with prescription of next steps and accessibly disseminated results—the two criteria rated most important by policymakers in past research—receiving the lowest ratings. Doubts about how effectively psychological theories can be implemented on a societal level may also have contributed to the decline in federal funding of psychological science over the past decade, Berkman and Wilson wrote. 

“Public skepticism about the value of science in general, and randomized experiments on humans in particular, are significant barriers that we must overcome to convince federal policymakers of the value of psychological theory,” the researchers wrote.

Practical theories in academia  

Academic institutions could incentivize more practical theories by weighing factors such as “influence on practice” or “societal impact” more heavily in their hiring, tenure, and promotion processes, Berkman and Wilson wrote. In a similar vein, funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation signal the importance of practical theories by including significance to practice in the field among the top priorities in their evaluation criteria, the researchers noted. 

Promoting psychology’s societal impact could also help attract more civically engaged students and other professionals, Berkman and Wilson wrote. Google searches for “jobs in research” declined by half between 2010 and 2020, the researcher noted, while searches for “jobs that help” have continued to increase in volume. 

“Socially engaged people might not find the motivation to dedicate sustained attention to abstract theoretical questions when historical geopolitical events are unfolding around the globe,” Berkman and Wilson wrote. “Psychology could increase its appeal to the next generation by designing theories to address pressing social issues.” 

The call to center practical theories is not intended to enforce a false dichotomy between basic and applied research, Berkman and Wilson stressed: Practical theory is a balancing act between building incremental knowledge and explicitly communicating how those findings can be put into action by practitioners, policymakers, and the public. 

Feedback on this article? Email  [email protected]  or post a comment.

Reference  

Berkman, E. T., & Wilson, S. M. (2021). So useful as a good theory? The practicality crisis in (social) psychological theory.  Perspectives on Psychological Science . Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620969650  

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Making a Career Choice: Follow in Your Own Footsteps

In a guest column, APS Fellow Barbara Wanchisen shares observations and ideas on broadening career opportunities for psychological scientists.

Student Notebook: Finding Your Path in Psychological Science

Feeling unsure or overwhelmed as an early-career psychology student? Second-year graduate student Mariel Barnett shares advice to quell uncertainties.

Matching Psychology Training to Job Market Realities

APS President Wendy Wood discusses how graduate programs can change the habit of focusing on academic-career preparation.

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Practical Research: A Basic Guide to Planning, Doing, and Writing

Introduction.

The purpose of this book is to provide an introduction to basic practical research. The contents of this book are not inclusive of all things ‘research’. However, the topics covered in this book have been selected to best present the ‘big picture’ regarding entry-level research and was specifically designed for emerging researchers with a background in clinical respiratory care.

How to approach this book

As you work to shift your perspective from a consumer of research to a contributor of research, it is likely that the scope of your interest in this process will grow beyond the context of this book. This book has been developed in a phasic approach to thinking, designing, and writing about research for the novice researcher:

Phase 1: Planning

Planning your approach to research is perhaps the most important step in the process. In this book, we’ll discuss how to to begin shifting your paradigm toward that of a researcher. We’ll highlight the planning process which includes the development of a problem and purpose statement and how to craft a research question which will help guide the process of ‘doing’.

Phase 2: Doing

Perhaps the most daunting aspect of research for novice researchers is the actual implementation of an intervention and collection of data. As mentioned above, planning is key to successful ‘doing’. Chapters 3-5 of this text will discuss how to gather and analyze quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Again, these chapters are not a replacement for an in-depth understanding of statistical methodology; rather, they have been developed to focus your attention on the general approach to identifying the best answer to your research question.

Phase 3: Writing

The final phase of the research process is to articulate and disseminate the results of your process. Chapter 6 includes a focused approach to creating a research proposal and addressing institutional review board considerations. Chapter 7 outlines how to approach writing a manuscript suitable for dissemination.

As clinician-researchers, it is imperative that we step forward to ensure our profession is not only well represented in the scientific community, but that all we do continue to be grounded firmly in evidence which supports our practice. Congratulations on becoming part of the scientific community and best of luck with your upcoming research!

Practical Research: A Basic Guide to Planning, Doing, and Writing Copyright © by megankoster. All Rights Reserved.

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• Before you start

Practical considerations

Before you start - Practical considerations

Careful consideration of the practical and ethical considerations involved in carrying out a piece of educational research needs to take place at the outset. Although this is something of an iterative process and some practical issues may not emerge or pose a potential challenge until after the research process has started, time spent attending to the practical aspects early on will help minimise complications and will contribution to the identification of an appropriate research question.

The table below provides an overview of some of the main considerations that might inform your decisions about the ways in which you wish to conduct your research:

'It is difficult to overstate the importance of researchers doing their homework before planning the research in any detail […]. The researcher is advised to consider carefully the practicability of the research before embarking on a lost cause in trying to conduct a study that is doomed from the very start because insufficient attention has been paid to practical constraints and issues.' Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2018, pp. 158-60 'As the saying goes, "the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time"!' Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2018, p. 160

Further reading

Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2018), Chapter 9 – “Choosing a research project” (Section 9.5: “Ensuring that the research can be conducted”) in Cohen, L.,

Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (eds), Research Methods in Education (Abingdon, Routledge, 8th edn, pp. 158-160.

Basic Steps in the Research Process

The following steps outline a simple and effective strategy for writing a research paper. Depending on your familiarity with the topic and the challenges you encounter along the way, you may need to rearrange these steps.

Step 1: Identify and develop your topic

Selecting a topic can be the most challenging part of a research assignment. Since this is the very first step in writing a paper, it is vital that it be done correctly. Here are some tips for selecting a topic:

• Select a topic within the parameters set by the assignment. Many times your instructor will give you clear guidelines as to what you can and cannot write about. Failure to work within these guidelines may result in your proposed paper being deemed unacceptable by your instructor.
• Select a topic of personal interest to you and learn more about it. The research for and writing of a paper will be more enjoyable if you are writing about something that you find interesting.
• Select a topic for which you can find a manageable amount of information. Do a preliminary search of information sources to determine whether existing sources will meet your needs. If you find too much information, you may need to narrow your topic; if you find too little, you may need to broaden your topic.
• Be original. Your instructor reads hundreds of research papers every year, and many of them are on the same topics (topics in the news at the time, controversial issues, subjects for which there is ample and easily accessed information). Stand out from your classmates by selecting an interesting and off-the-beaten-path topic.
• Still can't come up with a topic to write about? See your instructor for advice.

Once you have identified your topic, it may help to state it as a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about the epidemic of obesity in the American population, you might pose the question "What are the causes of obesity in America ?" By posing your subject as a question you can more easily identify the main concepts or keywords to be used in your research.

Step 2 : Do a preliminary search for information

Before beginning your research in earnest, do a preliminary search to determine whether there is enough information out there for your needs and to set the context of your research. Look up your keywords in the appropriate titles in the library's Reference collection (such as encyclopedias and dictionaries) and in other sources such as our catalog of books, periodical databases, and Internet search engines. Additional background information may be found in your lecture notes, textbooks, and reserve readings. You may find it necessary to adjust the focus of your topic in light of the resources available to you.

Step 3: Locate materials

With the direction of your research now clear to you, you can begin locating material on your topic. There are a number of places you can look for information:

If you are looking for books, do a subject search in One Search . A Keyword search can be performed if the subject search doesn't yield enough information. Print or write down the citation information (author, title,etc.) and the location (call number and collection) of the item(s). Note the circulation status. When you locate the book on the shelf, look at the books located nearby; similar items are always shelved in the same area. The Aleph catalog also indexes the library's audio-visual holdings.

Use the library's  electronic periodical databases  to find magazine and newspaper articles. Choose the databases and formats best suited to your particular topic; ask at the librarian at the Reference Desk if you need help figuring out which database best meets your needs. Many of the articles in the databases are available in full-text format.

Use search engines ( Google ,  Yahoo , etc.) and subject directories to locate materials on the Internet. Check the  Internet Resources  section of the NHCC Library web site for helpful subject links.

Step 4: Evaluate your sources

See the  CARS Checklist for Information Quality   for tips on evaluating the authority and quality of the information you have located. Your instructor expects that you will provide credible, truthful, and reliable information and you have every right to expect that the sources you use are providing the same. This step is especially important when using Internet resources, many of which are regarded as less than reliable.

Step 5: Make notes

Consult the resources you have chosen and note the information that will be useful in your paper. Be sure to document all the sources you consult, even if you there is a chance you may not use that particular source. The author, title, publisher, URL, and other information will be needed later when creating a bibliography.

Step 6: Write your paper

Begin by organizing the information you have collected. The next step is the rough draft, wherein you get your ideas on paper in an unfinished fashion. This step will help you organize your ideas and determine the form your final paper will take. After this, you will revise the draft as many times as you think necessary to create a final product to turn in to your instructor.

Step 7: Cite your sources properly

Give credit where credit is due; cite your sources.

Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes: it gives proper credit to the authors of the materials used, and it allows those who are reading your work to duplicate your research and locate the sources that you have listed as references. The  MLA  and the  APA  Styles are two popular citation formats.

Failure to cite your sources properly is plagiarism. Plagiarism is avoidable!

Step 8: Proofread

The final step in the process is to proofread the paper you have created. Read through the text and check for any errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Make sure the sources you used are cited properly. Make sure the message that you want to get across to the reader has been thoroughly stated.

Additional research tips:

• Work from the general to the specific -- find background information first, then use more specific sources.
• Don't forget print sources -- many times print materials are more easily accessed and every bit as helpful as online resources.
• The library has books on the topic of writing research papers at call number area LB 2369.
• If you have questions about the assignment, ask your instructor.
• If you have any questions about finding information in the library, ask the librarian.

Contact Information

Craig larson.

Librarian 763-424-0733 [email protected] Zoom:  myzoom   Available by appointment

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How to Write the Rationale of the Study in Research (Examples)

What is the Rationale of the Study?

The rationale of the study is the justification for taking on a given study. It explains the reason the study was conducted or should be conducted. This means the study rationale should explain to the reader or examiner why the study is/was necessary. It is also sometimes called the “purpose” or “justification” of a study. While this is not difficult to grasp in itself, you might wonder how the rationale of the study is different from your research question or from the statement of the problem of your study, and how it fits into the rest of your thesis or research paper. 

The rationale of the study links the background of the study to your specific research question and justifies the need for the latter on the basis of the former. In brief, you first provide and discuss existing data on the topic, and then you tell the reader, based on the background evidence you just presented, where you identified gaps or issues and why you think it is important to address those. The problem statement, lastly, is the formulation of the specific research question you choose to investigate, following logically from your rationale, and the approach you are planning to use to do that.

Table of Contents:

How to write a rationale for a research paper , how do you justify the need for a research study.

• Study Rationale Example: Where Does It Go In Your Paper?

The basis for writing a research rationale is preliminary data or a clear description of an observation. If you are doing basic/theoretical research, then a literature review will help you identify gaps in current knowledge. In applied/practical research, you base your rationale on an existing issue with a certain process (e.g., vaccine proof registration) or practice (e.g., patient treatment) that is well documented and needs to be addressed. By presenting the reader with earlier evidence or observations, you can (and have to) convince them that you are not just repeating what other people have already done or said and that your ideas are not coming out of thin air. 

Once you have explained where you are coming from, you should justify the need for doing additional research–this is essentially the rationale of your study. Finally, when you have convinced the reader of the purpose of your work, you can end your introduction section with the statement of the problem of your research that contains clear aims and objectives and also briefly describes (and justifies) your methodological approach. 

When is the Rationale for Research Written?

The author can present the study rationale both before and after the research is conducted. 

• Before conducting research : The study rationale is a central component of the research proposal . It represents the plan of your work, constructed before the study is actually executed.
• Once research has been conducted : After the study is completed, the rationale is presented in a research article or  PhD dissertation  to explain why you focused on this specific research question. When writing the study rationale for this purpose, the author should link the rationale of the research to the aims and outcomes of the study.

What to Include in the Study Rationale

Although every study rationale is different and discusses different specific elements of a study’s method or approach, there are some elements that should be included to write a good rationale. Make sure to touch on the following:

• A summary of conclusions from your review of the relevant literature
• What is currently unknown (gaps in knowledge)
• Inconclusive or contested results  from previous studies on the same or similar topic
• The necessity to improve or build on previous research, such as to improve methodology or utilize newer techniques and/or technologies

There are different types of limitations that you can use to justify the need for your study. In applied/practical research, the justification for investigating something is always that an existing process/practice has a problem or is not satisfactory. Let’s say, for example, that people in a certain country/city/community commonly complain about hospital care on weekends (not enough staff, not enough attention, no decisions being made), but you looked into it and realized that nobody ever investigated whether these perceived problems are actually based on objective shortages/non-availabilities of care or whether the lower numbers of patients who are treated during weekends are commensurate with the provided services.

In this case, “lack of data” is your justification for digging deeper into the problem. Or, if it is obvious that there is a shortage of staff and provided services on weekends, you could decide to investigate which of the usual procedures are skipped during weekends as a result and what the negative consequences are. 

In basic/theoretical research, lack of knowledge is of course a common and accepted justification for additional research—but make sure that it is not your only motivation. “Nobody has ever done this” is only a convincing reason for a study if you explain to the reader why you think we should know more about this specific phenomenon. If there is earlier research but you think it has limitations, then those can usually be classified into “methodological”, “contextual”, and “conceptual” limitations. To identify such limitations, you can ask specific questions and let those questions guide you when you explain to the reader why your study was necessary:

Methodological limitations

• Did earlier studies try but failed to measure/identify a specific phenomenon?
• Was earlier research based on incorrect conceptualizations of variables?
• Were earlier studies based on questionable operationalizations of key concepts?
• Did earlier studies use questionable or inappropriate research designs?

Contextual limitations

• Have recent changes in the studied problem made previous studies irrelevant?
• Are you studying a new/particular context that previous findings do not apply to?

Conceptual limitations

• Do previous findings only make sense within a specific framework or ideology?

Study Rationale Examples

Let’s look at an example from one of our earlier articles on the statement of the problem to clarify how your rationale fits into your introduction section. This is a very short introduction for a practical research study on the challenges of online learning. Your introduction might be much longer (especially the context/background section), and this example does not contain any sources (which you will have to provide for all claims you make and all earlier studies you cite)—but please pay attention to how the background presentation , rationale, and problem statement blend into each other in a logical way so that the reader can follow and has no reason to question your motivation or the foundation of your research.

Background presentation

Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, most educational institutions around the world have transitioned to a fully online study model, at least during peak times of infections and social distancing measures. This transition has not been easy and even two years into the pandemic, problems with online teaching and studying persist (reference needed) . 

While the increasing gap between those with access to technology and equipment and those without access has been determined to be one of the main challenges (reference needed) , others claim that online learning offers more opportunities for many students by breaking down barriers of location and distance (reference needed) .  

Rationale of the study

Since teachers and students cannot wait for circumstances to go back to normal, the measures that schools and universities have implemented during the last two years, their advantages and disadvantages, and the impact of those measures on students’ progress, satisfaction, and well-being need to be understood so that improvements can be made and demographics that have been left behind can receive the support they need as soon as possible.

Statement of the problem

To identify what changes in the learning environment were considered the most challenging and how those changes relate to a variety of student outcome measures, we conducted surveys and interviews among teachers and students at ten institutions of higher education in four different major cities, two in the US (New York and Chicago), one in South Korea (Seoul), and one in the UK (London). Responses were analyzed with a focus on different student demographics and how they might have been affected differently by the current situation.

How long is a study rationale?

In a research article bound for journal publication, your rationale should not be longer than a few sentences (no longer than one brief paragraph). A  dissertation or thesis  usually allows for a longer description; depending on the length and nature of your document, this could be up to a couple of paragraphs in length. A completely novel or unconventional approach might warrant a longer and more detailed justification than an approach that slightly deviates from well-established methods and approaches.

Consider Using Professional Academic Editing Services

Now that you know how to write the rationale of the study for a research proposal or paper, you should make use of our free AI grammar checker , Wordvice AI, or receive professional academic proofreading services from Wordvice, including research paper editing services and manuscript editing services to polish your submitted research documents.

You can also find many more articles, for example on writing the other parts of your research paper , on choosing a title , or on making sure you understand and adhere to the author instructions before you submit to a journal, on the Wordvice academic resources pages.

The Relationship between Research and Practice

Cite this chapter.

• George Stricker 3 &
• Robert H. Keisner 4  

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It is clear that research and clinical practice have a synergistic relationship, with each one informing the other. It is clear that effective clinical psychologists will guide their practice on the basis of established research findings. It is clear that contributing research clinicians will be actively involved in practice, deriving hypotheses from clinical experience in order to better their research which, in turn, will influence their practice. And it is clear that each preceding statement is a romantic platitude, more honored in the breach than in performance. More likely, the practicing clinician does not read research journals very often, having discovered, early on, the irrelevance of the findings to practice. More likely, the research clinician has not treated a clinical patient for years, so the lack of apparent relevance of the findings is of little surprise. And most likely, the practitioner will register disdain for the researcher, who will complain about the disregard of the practitioner for the evidence of science.

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Stricker, G., Keisner, R.H. (1985). The Relationship between Research and Practice. In: Stricker, G., Keisner, R.H. (eds) From Research to Clinical Practice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4820-7_1

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