Research, Social Change, and Becoming a Researcher and Scholar-Practitioner

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As you know, BrainMass policy says that I cannot do this answer for you.

Needless to say, I cannot speak to the first part of your assignment, since I don't know what you are interested in. However, the relation between research and social change/practice is very important. What you can do is take what I say about that topic and extrapolate it to what you want to research as a scholar practitioner in psychology.

While not specifically on psychology, this article is excellent for the overall topic: http://www.drc-citizenship.org/system/assets/1052734541/original/1052734541-wheeler.2007-creating.pdf?1289913034

This one is easily amenable to psychology: http://www.millersville.edu/~schaffer/me/engagement.pdf

On social psychology and change: http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/socpsy-8.html

Here are some basic themes around which you can structure your own response:

Research is inherently involved with social change. As a psychologist, what topics we decide to focus on have everything to do with what we want to see accomplished; reforms to be made and changes to happen.

The scientific method in psychology deals with means - how we can answer questions. Our ends are not "scientific" they are moral - there is no "scientific" method to reach a set of goals for our research. These are all social and normative.

The better our research, the more "weapons" mobilized groups will have to use against present injustice. This is huge, since the more scientific and objective our work, the more impact it will have. (Of course, this assumes that people are rational and seek the truth - a more critical psychological approach will hold that a) people are herd animals, b) people are easily manipulated by social power centers and c) they care not about truth, but about their own interests.)

Scientific, objective research in social psychology MIGHT be able to moderate social passions. If the evidence and truth are our main concerns, emotional responses and violence ...