Applied Research In Psychology
Applied research in psychology involves using psychological principles and theories to address real-world problems and improve people's lives. This type of research focuses on practical applications, such as developing interventions for mental health issues, improving educational strategies, or enhancing workplace productivity. It aims to directly impact individuals, organizations, and communities by translating psychological knowledge into tangible solutions.
6 Key excerpts on "Applied Research In Psychology"
eBook - ePub- Nicky Hayes(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Teach Yourself(Publisher)
...Actually, pure and applied psychology interact with one another all of the time. There is a continual exchange of knowledge between that acquired in the field by applied psychologists putting psychology into practice, and researchers who work in universities (usually) exploring psychological knowledge in a way that is slightly more distant from the messy realities of day-to-day life. Academic psychologists applying for a research grant are always expected to indicate how they believe their research would be useful in the field, and applied psychologists conducting research in real-world settings as part of their work publish it in academic journals, as well as reporting it in their professional newsletters. Insight Many professional psychologists didn’t start out intending to go into their particular branch of the profession. They began studying psychology from interest, and then found that they were drawn to a particular specialism over time. Sometimes, the distinctions are very hard to pin down. Health psychology, for example, is an area of applied psychology which first developed in academic departments, as university psychologists with an interest in this area began to develop research projects to investigate real-world problems. As that field of knowledge developed, and its relevance became increasingly apparent, people became more and more interested in employing health psychologists, until eventually specific qualifications were established and that area of applied psychology became formally established as part of the range of professional psychology. Psychology has relevance to just about any area of everyday life. Anything relating to people has something to do with psychology, in one way or another...
eBook - ePubApplied Social Psychology
Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems
- Jamie A. Gruman, Frank W. Schneider, Larry M. Coutts(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...That is, at the heart of applied social psychology is a concern with developing social influence strategies (i.e., interventions) to improve people’s functioning with respect to social and practical problems. Although the field is particularly concerned with addressing social and practical problems on a general level (e.g., education, environment), individuals also can use social psychology to improve their own lives. The core assumption of the field of social psychology and applied social psychology is that people’s attitudes and behavior are greatly influenced by situational factors. In fact, intervention strategies may be viewed as involving the use of knowledge about social situational influence to effect improvements in people’s functioning. However, applied social psychology also recognizes that to understand and address problems, individual difference variables (e.g., personality) must be considered. Moreover, the social situation can be viewed as reflecting different levels of analysis (e.g., interpersonal, group, community); accordingly, interventions may be directed at different levels. Applied social psychology requires a broad approach to social and practical problems, including the use of multiple research methods, an interdisciplinary orientation, and recognition of the value of other perspectives (e.g., evolutionary, personality, cultural). In his or her work, the applied social psychologist can assume several roles, some of which include researcher, program designer, evaluation researcher, consultant, action researcher, and advocate....
eBook - ePubThe School Psychologist in Nontraditional Settings
Integrating Clients, Services, and Settings
- Rik Carl D'Amato, Raymond S. Dean, Rik Carl D'Amato, Raymond S. Dean(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...For instance, an applied educational psychology will undoubtedly find differences within its own researchers and practitioners on such issues as whole person versus person as student only, emphasis on teacher or on learner, teacher versus learner control, knowledge as content versus knowledge as process, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, learning as holistic versus learning as molecular, learning as social versus learning as individual (Berlak & Berlak, 1981), and setting emphasis versus person emphasis. Differences among researchers and practitioners about behavioral, cognitive, or dynamic theory preferences will continue to exist. All theoretical/research approaches are applicable to applied educational psychology as they are to all other practitioner specialties. But the major concerns and questions raised and the debates and differences among those involved will be different from those raised in other human service provider specialties in psychology. That difference is what can make a difference! Applied educational psychologists need not delete mental health approaches to problem solving from their repertoires. The change in approach is akin to the current mental health model using teaching as one modality within a mental health model of prevention and treatment. The applied educational psychologist would consider use of mental health modalities (e.g., well recognized mental health counseling approaches) as one way among others to help a person develop knowledge or skills needed in order to deal with the difficulty at hand. What in actuality would an applied educational psychologist do that is different from what would be done by any other human service provider in psychology? Any psychologist in any setting will be asked to deal with problem behavior...
eBook - ePubRethinking Sport and Exercise Psychology Research
Past, Present and Future
- Peter Hassmén, Richard Keegan, David Piggott(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
...Practitioners can quickly end up adopting incoherent and incompatible methods, goalposts can be easily moved, claims for effectiveness can be overblown; and clients eventually pick up on this. They don’t like it. As such, echoing the above point, the research-practice gap can undermine training and reporting processes, ultimately undermining the quality of applied psychological practice. A good relationship between research and practice would create a shared language for describing, analysing and evaluating applied practice—scientifically. Yes, different epistemologies will accept different types of evidence, and we can explore what that means one day…but right now we aren’t even having this debate—researchers and practitioners don’t talk (enough) and it leaves applied practitioners ‘flying blind’ to a greater extent than we’d find acceptable (if, e.g. we researched it). From the research side of the divide, most researchers arguably start their careers with the aim of informing—perhaps even revolutionising—applied practice in their field. Very few PhD students begin their journey with an ambition of achieving a high h-index. Unfortunately, in order to participate in the game of science, researchers are usually expected to adopt the: (a) assumptions; (b) theories; (c) methods; and (d) measurement instruments that are considered acceptable in their field. In Martens’ time, these were (a) strong positivist assumptions; (b) parsimonious theories, often borrowed from social psychology; (c) experimental methods, often conducted in labs away from where the real action occurred; and (d) behavioural observations, and questionnaires. In modern times, we tend to see research that promotes (a) postpositivist assumptions, often reduced to naïvely positivist assumptions (e.g...
eBook - ePubPsychology in Organizations
integrating Science and Practice
- Kevin R. Murphy, Frank E. Saal, Kevin R. Murphy, Frank E. Saal(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Psychology Press(Publisher)
...Introduction Applied psychology has a definite public relations problem, especially when the area of application is in organizations. Managers often believe that half of what psychologists know is nothing more than common sense, and that the other half is wrong. This evaluation probably does describe some of the activities of psychologists in organizations, but we believe it does not describe the state of the art in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology. At its best, I/O psychology represents the successful application of basic scientific findings to practical problems. At their worst, I/O and other areas of applied psychology represent nonscientific guesswork on the part of people who should know better. The integration of science and practice is a critical issue in evaluating applications of psychology, and is especially relevant to the field of I/O psychology. This book deals with two key questions. First, is there a firm scientific basis for the major applications of psychology in organizations? A related issue is whether or not it is possible to develop organizational applications for research in the behavioral sciences. Second, does the practice of psychology in organizations contribute in any meaningful way to psychological research? This book attempts to answer these questions by describing some of the ways in which I/O psychologists integrate science and practice in applying psychology in organizations. There are at least two models for combining science and practice. First, there is the largely one-way interaction between pure scientists and engineers. Here the scientists supply the principles and the engineers supply the technology. This model works well for a wide variety of purposes, but it is not optimal when applying psychology in organizations...
eBook - ePubObserving Children in Their Natural Worlds
A Methodological Primer, Third Edition
- Anthony D. Pellegrini, Frank Symons, John Hoch(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Psychology Press(Publisher)
...Sometimes these two areas of research are dichotomized as “basic” and “applied” science. Basic science is typically associated with generating and testing hypotheses derived from theory. Theory, as will be discussed, is an overarching explanation for some phenomenon. Basic science can be descriptive, explanatory, or predictive. Applied science, on the other hand, uses the scientific method to solve everyday problems, such as workplace bullying or children's noncompliance at school and home. As you will see, however, the basic vs applied dichotomy does have fuzzy boundaries. For example, you could invoke a theory (e.g. social cognitive theory), in the service of solving a practical problem (workplace bullying), to make predictions about causes (e.g. bosses tolerate and model bullying) and remediation (e.g. have positive models and do not reinforce negative models). If these predictions are framed in terms of hypotheses derived from a theory, the outcomes are certainly “basic” though possibly, as you will see below, at a lower level of abstraction than other hypotheses. Social “Science” Popular visions of science often invoke lab coats, experimental apparatus, and the like. To some, attaching social to science is almost an oxymoron. Perhaps most famously, in 1979 Margaret Thatcher, the then British Prime Minister removed the word “science” from the Social Science Research Council (a government research funding) and re-christened it the Economic and Social Research Council. For Thatcher, with an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Oxford, social and science were not compatible. In order to explore the nature of science in social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, a brief foray into philosophy is helpful. Specific to psychology, philosophy was, not so long ago, a branch of philosophy, not a discipline in its own right. Indeed, even today the connection between psychology and philosophy is seen as vital at some universities...
