Debates- Usefulness Flashcards
What would it mean to say psychological research is useful?
For psychological research to be useful, it needs to have practical applications.
Arguments against useful research
If studies have to be useful, then researchers would never carry out investigations just for interest
Just because research could have useful applications, there is no guarantee it will be used well - others could use the research in a negative way
If carrying out useful research is seen as essential, there is a danger of ethical guidelines being broken by researchers.
How can researchers avoid research being used in negative ways?
Point out the limitations of applying the research so they are not used in the wrong way
Encourage people not to use the research in a harmful way (and talk up the positive uses)
Not publish the research findings if they could be used in a negative way and cause harm to others (or only publish in small academic publications so fewer people could put the findings to negative use)
Benefits of useful research
It can have positive practical applications that can improve the quality of people’s lives
If research is likely to have practical applications then it is more likely to attract funding (e.g. research grants), making it more likely that the research will actually be carried out
It can improve the reputation of psychology as an academic subject
drawbacks of useful research
Research which is useful can be put to bad (socially negative/harmful) uses as well as to good (socially beneficial/positive) uses
If two people on opposite sides (e.g. lawyers) both make use of the same psychological insight, then the usefulness of the research is cancelled out
If it is implied that research ought to be useful then psychologists might not do ‘pure’ research that isn’t useful now but could be useful in the future
If it is all-important that research is useful, then this could put pressure on researchers to breach some of the ethical guidelines
What factors would increase the usefulness of a psychological study?
If it has real world practical applications
If it tells us something new about behaviour
If it applies to a large number of people (generalisable)
If the research is actually valid (measuring what it is supposed to)
If the research has high ecological validity (so represents how people would behave in real-life situations)
