Introduction: Applied Research and Social Justice

THIS ISSUE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE EXAMINES HOW SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH CAN contribute to the pursuit of social justice through its direct application to resolving concrete social problems, aiding organizing efforts, informing public policy, influencing legislation, or changing institutions. We begin with Laurie Joyner's essay, which delineates the boundaries between basic, applied, and clinical sociological research. Joyner argues that "the call for social science research to be 'value-free' is untenable and that a legitimate role for the sociologist involves using one's disciplinary perspective and research to inform program and policy development in an attempt to improve the quality of life for marginalized groups." Drawing on her own extensive experiences, Joyner discusses the promising role of applied research in contributing to program improvement and incremental change geared toward social justice both within the community and the academy. She also highlights the potential challenges of integrating applied work into an academic career and suggests strategies for altering academic culture and the faculty recognition and reward structure in ways that support applied research directed toward social justice issues. We continue with Jay Weinstein's historical examination of the theoretical and practical relationship between applied sociology and democracy. Weinstein argues that from the beginning of the discipline, "the development of sociology and the related social sciences...was clearly driven by an attempt to apply scientific knowledge to improve human relations." Following a provocative and insightful review of applied sociological thinking from Sir Patrick Geddes through W.E.B. DuBois and the Students for a Democratic Society, Weinstein concludes that "the concept of participatory democracy lies behind the many different terms used by applied sociologists when referring to the best informed and most effective system for articulating and managing group interests." Theresa Garvin and Renee Gravois Lee's essay adds a cautionary note to the first two authors' optimism about developments in the field of applied research. Garvin and Gravois Lee focus on the increasing demand to illustrate the policy-relevance of research. They raise a number of important questions, such as "What are some of the potential dangers of the policy-relevant turn and how it may subtly change how investigators approach their work?" As researchers committed to applied social research, the authors reflect critically on the potential of such policy-relevant pressure to influence each stage of the research enterprise--"from conceptualizing the problem, to collecting and analyzing data, as well as communicating findings." Besides acknowledging the importance of policy-relevant work, the authors also consider how such an orientation can result in narrowing our research focus and parameters in ways that limit our understanding of social phenomena under study and undermine the creation of well-informed policies or programs geared toward social justice. A different set of red flags, as well as distinctly positioned optimism, about the potential of applied research are raised in Manu Aluli Meyer's challenging essay, "Hawaiian Hermeneutics and the Triangulation of Meaning." Writing from the perspective of an indigenous Hawaiian educator and researcher, she uses hermeneutics, "the art and science of interpretation," to challenge the sort of empiricism that characterizes much of Anglo-American approaches to knowledge, research, and education. She uses the example of "knowing what type of limu, seaweed, washes on Hamakua shores during winter swells" to illustrate the epistemological assertions that "place educates, beauty develops our thinking, and time is not simply linear." With regard to established notions of what constitute "objective" research practices, Mayer insists, "We are not 'dumbing down' methodology when we wish to sit and listen--for years. …