The Purposes of Research to TOP of this page My clinical interests and experiences are now more thoroughly integrated with my research interests. In fact, questions of the experience of being human and the joys and difficulties of living were the questions that had brought me to psychology in the first place and the ones I still consider to be at the heart of psychological science. I see the goals of psychological research differently than I used to. The criterion for research findings, then, is not whether they are true or not, but whether they are useful. This does not mean to me that all research must have immediate application.
Basic research is still useful for generating and supporting new descriptions of experience.
Useful, in this sense, refers to its being grounded in and consistent with experience, being connected to other phenomena of interest, and being helpful in relieving suffering, either now or soon. But psychological research holds much more promise than merely supporting a theory. Digging deeply enough, we find the greater purposes of research to be reducing suffering and promoting well-being. Another outcome of conducting research is the personal growth and self-realization of the researcher. While this is rarely talked about in texts on psychological research, it is important.