In fact I would posit that the majority of educational research that is undertaken is initiated and motivated for reasons other than a genuine desire to advance knowledge. Some of the reasons are esoteric, others are opportunistic, and some entirely pragmatic. In the world of academia, educational research is primarily a means to an end rather than an end in itself. In the main, it is done to gain qualifications, to demonstrate scholarship, and to advance career prospects. Under these circumstances it seems quite natural that some or much of the work will lack social relevance.
Research is based on the identification and solution of problems.
Research is seen to be done when solutions are found even when problems do not necessarily exist. It is the reasons why we do research rather than the way in which we do research that I think leads to the problems of social relevance which Tom spoke about in his paper. This issue first came to my attention after I had just completed my own Ph.D. in which I investigated the ways teachers in local schools taught computer programming. I questioned the capability of conventional teaching methods to develop students' understanding of programming concepts and the programming process. My own experience had been that most students when learning to program, gained very little understanding of what they were doing, but instead gained a broad knowledge of programming syntax.