sample of applied research paper

25 Applied Research Examples

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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Applied research is research intended to solve specific and practical problems faced by the researcher and their shareholders.

Grimsgaard (2023) defines it below:

“Applied research tends to drill down more toward solving specific problems that affect people in the here and now.”

It is contrasted to basic research , which is research for its own sake. Bentley, Gulbrandsen and Kyvik (2015) define basic research as “research undertaken with a primary purpose of the advancement of knowledge for its own sake.”

The key benefit of applied research is that it helps solve problems in the real world – it is the embodiment of the concept of ‘invention is the mother of invention. But if we only did applied research, we wouldn’t achieve any of the blue skies breakthroughs that are achieved through basis research.

In fact, applied research often follows up from basic research, finding ways to apply that basic research to real-life needs in society.

Applied Research Examples

• Medicine: Development of a new vaccine to combat a specific viral strain.
• Computer Science: Creating an algorithm to enhance image recognition in smartphones.
• Agriculture: Introducing a genetically modified crop variety to improve yield and pest resistance.
• Psychology: Implementing cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques to treat anxiety disorders.
• Environmental Science: Designing a method to purify water using solar energy in remote areas.
• Engineering: Developing a more efficient and lightweight battery for electric cars.
• Education: Evaluating the effectiveness of online teaching methods on student performance.
• Economics: Assessing the impact of a new taxation policy on consumer spending.
• Sociology: Creating community programs based on studies of urban youth engagement.
• Architecture: Designing earthquake-resistant buildings based on geological research.
• Nutrition: Formulating a diet plan to mitigate the effects of type 2 diabetes.
• Linguistics: Developing language learning apps based on cognitive linguistics research.
• Sports Science: Designing a training regimen to enhance the performance of long-distance runners.
• Marketing: Analyzing consumer behavior to optimize product placement in retail stores.
• Geology: Creating risk assessment tools for communities near active volcanoes.
• Transportation: Designing an urban transportation system based on traffic flow research.
• Marine Biology: Establishing sustainable fishing guidelines based on studies of fish populations.
• Chemistry: Developing a new drug formulation for faster pain relief.
• Physics: Creating more efficient solar panels based on the study of photovoltaic materials.
• Communication Studies: Implementing crisis communication strategies for corporations based on media research.
• Aerospace Engineering: Designing a new airplane wing for reduced fuel consumption.
• Biotechnology: Producing biofuels from algae after studying their growth and energy properties.
• Musicology: Enhancing acoustics in concert halls based on sound wave research.
• Pharmacology: Testing a new drug to treat a rare form of cancer.
• Urban Planning: Designing green spaces in cities based on studies of residents’ mental well-being.

Case Studies

1. the invention of the internet.

One of the most celebrated examples of applied research leading to a groundbreaking invention is the development of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tim Berners-Lee, a British engineer and computer scientist, was working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. His task was to find a way to allow scientists to share data and research results efficiently across the world. The challenge was significant because, at that time, there were no universally accepted and easy-to-use methods for data sharing and retrieval across different computer networks and platforms.

In solving this problem, Berners-Lee developed the three fundamental technologies that remain the foundation of today’s Web (and which you may recognize!):

• HTML : HyperText Markup Language
• URI : Uniform Resource Identifier
• HTTP : Hypertext Transfer Protocol

These technologies enabled the creation and retrieval of linked documents and multimedia across a network of computers. Berners-Lee also created the first web browser and web server to demonstrate and utilize these technologies.

The invention of the World Wide Web has had a profound and transformative impact on society, affecting almost every aspect of our daily lives, including communication, education, business, and entertainment. Berners-Lee’s applied research, initially aimed at solving a specific problem related to scientific data sharing, ended up unleashing a revolutionary tool that reshaped the world.

2. The Discovery of Penicillin

The discovery and development of penicillin, an antibiotic, by Alexander Fleming and its subsequent mass production shows how applied research can lead to revolutionary inventions.

In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist, observed that a mold called Penicillium notatum was able to kill bacteria in a petri dish. This discovery was quite accidental and came while Fleming was researching staphylococci, a type of bacteria. At this point, it was just basic research .

But in 1939, Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain took Fleming’s discovery from a useful laboratory finding to a life-saving drug through extensive research and development. They conducted systematic, applied research to figure out how to mass-produce and purify penicillin.

By 1941, the team had successfully treated its first patient with penicillin, marking a major milestone in medicinal history.

But it was in the years of World War II that penicillin really became a life safer – literally. During World War II, the production of penicillin was scaled up massively to treat wounded soldiers, saving countless lives that might have been lost to bacterial infections.

Fleming’s initial discovery and the subsequent applied research by Florey, Chain, and their team transformed penicillin into a practical, widely available antibiotic.

The development and mass production of penicillin marked the beginning of the antibiotic era, fundamentally altering medicine by providing an effective treatment for bacterial infections.

Applied vs Basic Research

Unlike applied research, basic research seeks to expand knowledge and understanding of fundamental principles and theories without immediate application in mind (Abeysekera, 2019; Bentley, Gulbrandsen & Kyvik, 2015).

Basic research is exploratory and often driven by curiosity or the academic interests of the researcher. The results may not have immediate practical implications but can form the foundation for future applied research (Grimsgaard, 2023).

Applied research , on the other hand, is aimed at addressing specific problems or questions, with the intent of applying the findings to practical solutions or actions (Abeysekera, 2019; Baimyrzaeva, 2018).

It is more structured, systematic, and focused on practical problem-solving or enhancing existing methods. The results are typically intended for immediate application, with direct, observable implications.

Benefits and Limitations of Applied Research

Applied research is specifically designed to address immediate problems, which is one of its greatest advantages.

It helps businesses, industries and policy makers improve operations, products, services or policies, thereby providing practical and immediate solutions (Baimyrzaeva, 2018).

Moreover, its impact can be quantified, making it easier to secure funding. However, the main disadvantage is that it is narrowly focused and its findings may not be universally applicable.

However, the desire for quick, practical results can constrain the methodology, perhaps limiting creativity or ignoring broader implications (Baimyrzaeva, 2018; Marotti de Mello & Wood 2019).

The pressure for immediate usability can also drive researchers towards safe, predictable projects rather than innovative or risky ones.

Abeysekera, A. (2019). Basic research and applied research.  Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka ,  47 (3).

Baimyrzaeva, M. (2018). Beginners’ guide for applied research process: What is it, and why and how to do it.  University of Central Asia ,  4 (8).

Bentley, P. J., Gulbrandsen, M., & Kyvik, S. (2015). The relationship between basic and applied research in universities.  Higher Education ,  70 , 689-709. ( Source )

Dunn, D. S. (2012). Research Methods for Social Psychology (2nd ed.). Wiley Global Education.

Grimsgaard, W. (2023). Design and strategy: a step by step guide . New York: Taylor & Francis.

Marotti de Mello, A., & Wood Jr, T. (2019). What is applied research anyway?.  Revista de Gestão ,  26 (4), 338-339. ( Source )

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 10 Reasons you’re Perpetually Single
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 20 Montessori Toddler Bedrooms (Design Inspiration)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 21 Montessori Homeschool Setups
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 101 Hidden Talents Examples

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School of City & Regional Planning

College of design.

Applied Research Papers & Master’s Theses

Applied research papers are completed by MCRP students as practice-oriented alternatives to theses. These papers utilize practical skills and draw conclusions related to professional planning practice.

This page showcases selected applied research papers and theses that were completed in recent years. For a complete archive, please visit the SMARTech collection hosted by the Georgia Tech Library.

Applied Research Papers

2023 Applied Research Papers

Brennan, Laurence. "America’s Gayborhoods: A Study in the Cultural Preservation of LGBTQ+ Communities" . 2023. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Xie, Yan. "Nihonbashi Retail Space and Shopping Activity Research: Daily and Pandemic" . 2023. Supervised by Perry Yang.

Ward, Jeremy. "The economy geography of assisted living homes: examining the locations, demographics, considerations, and trends of the assisted living home industry in Georgia" . 2023. Supervised by Nancy Green Leigh. 

Rawlins, Miles. "Finding a Nice Place to Sit: A Case Study of Midtown's Public Space" . 2023. Supervised by Perry Yang.

Knight-Scott, Ethan. "Commercial property undervaluation in Fulton County, Georgia: Determinants of appraisal error using ANOVA testing" . 2023. Supervised by Elora Raymond. 

Neaves, Thomas. "The Redevelopment of the Macon Mall Through a Social Infrastructure Lens" . 2023. Supervised by William Drummond.

Zhao, Yuxiang. "Tokyo Nihonbashi Visual Walkability Analysis" . 2023. Supervised by Perry Yang. 

Master, Michaela. " 1540 Northside Drive: Resilient, Redeveloped, Reimagined" . 2023. Supervised by Subhro Guhathakurta. 

Cena, Kortney. "Make Commercial Spaces Small Again: The Commercial Missing Middle and Strategies to Address It" . 2023. Supervised by Paige Clayton.

Jimenez, Miguel. "Cities and Placemaking in the Hispanic Monarchy: Theory, Case Studies, and Lessons for Contemporary Practice" . 2023. Supervised by Jennifer Hirsh, Mike Dobbins. 

Ruggles, Darien. " Now You've Got Broadband - What's Next? Strategies for Local Leaders to Increase Professional Digital Usage and Application in their Community". 2-23. Supervised by Paige Clayton. 

Raven, Roxanne. "The Environmental Impacts of Cityhood Movements in Atlanta: A Brookhaven Case Study" . 2023. Supervised by Brian Stone. 

2022 Applied Research Papers

Ling, Sharon . " An Atlanta-Based Analysis on the Feasibility of Employee Commute Options Programs and Switching from Driving Alone to Alternative Commute Modes ." 2022. Supervised by Kari Watkins .

Maurer, Colin . " Drawing Connections between Railway Station Ridership and Adjacent Urban Form ." 2022. Supervised by Paige Clayton .

Newman, Ian . " Evacuation with Efficiency: An Inland and Coastal Flood Based Emergency Evacuation Planning Scorecard Proposal . " 2022. Supervised by William J. Drummond .

White, Reginald Jr . " Preservation of African American Spaces: Case Study of Sweet Auburn Neighborhood of Atlanta,Georgia. " 2022. Supervised by Elora Raymond .

2021 Applied Research Papers

Chatman, Olivia E . "An Analysis of Covid-19, Air Quality, Race, and Socioeconomic Status in Georgia" . 2021. Supervised by Brian Stone, Jr.

2020 Applied Research Papers

As-Salaam, Kamau. " Neighborhood Security and Resiliency: Reviving East Washington ." 2020. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Corrao, Laurel. " Perspective on Planning for Sea Level Rise . " 2020. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Dervarics, Kelly. " Staying Afloat in Affordable Housing Production: An Initial Examination and Framework of Cost Savings for Mercy Housing Southeast. " 2020. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Ferreira, Andrea. " A Tale of Two (Modern) Cities: A Comparison of the Attempts to Regulate Airbnb in San Francisco and Boston. " 2020. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Haley, Victor. " The Impact of Eviction on Student Displacement: An Atlanta Case Study. " 2020. Supervised by Elora Raymond.

Hart, Haley. " Combating Food Insecurity within Universities ." 2020.  Supervised by Brian Stone.

Jerath, Shikha. " Racial Discrimination in the Atlanta Mortgage Market, 2012 - 2017 ." 2020.  Supervised by Elora Raymond.

Macbeth, Joshua. " Affordable Atlanta ." 2020.  Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Martin, Katherine. " Leveraging Technology as a Community Engagement Strategy. " 2020.  Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Orsini, Callie. " In the Mix: Middle Housing and Income Diversity in Atlanta ." 2020.  Supervised by Elora Raymond.

Pimentel, Ruth. " Funding Parks for Community Interests ." 2020.  Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Prendergast, Kyla. " The Influence of Transit - Oriented Developments on Housing Cost and Ridership in Denver, Colorado ." 2020.  Supervised by Elora Raymond.

Jiang, Qian. " The Impact of Traffic Density on Lane-Changing Frequency ." 2020. 

Seidenberg, Alex. " Bridging the Affordability Gap: How Can Faith Based Organizations Leverage Their Real Estate Assets? " 2020.  Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Staley, Rachel. " Historic Preservation and Downtown Revitalization: How Does the Georgia Main Street Program Affect the Population Size, Racial Makeup, Median Household Income, and Retail Sales of Designated Cities? " 2020.  Supervised by Brian Stone.

Zakas, Chelsea. " Climate Mitigation Planning: Are Plans with Policy Tools Measurably More Effective? " 2020.  Supervised by Brian Stone.

Zhen, Shuhui. " Increasing Bicycles’ Share of Commuter Trips in Atlanta through Improved Trip Routing Methodologies. " 2020.  Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

2019 Applied Research Papers

Baggett, Anna. " Combatting the Urban Heat Island Effect: What Trees Are Suitable for Atlanta’s Current and Future Climate? " 2019. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Bleckley, Claire. " Georgia’s Regional Planning System: An Evaluation of the State’s 12 Regional Development Commissions .” 2019. Supervised by Nancey Green Leigh.

Brice, Paul-Emile. " Resort Towns: Making a Case Study of Montego Bay and Bavaro Punta Cana .” 2019. Supervised by Alberto Fuentes.

Carpenter, Sophia. " Planning for Blue and Green: A Case for Green Infrastructure .” 2019. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Carter, Melody. " Federal Opportunity Zones: The newest gentrification tool? ” 2019. Supervised by Nancey Green Leigh.

Cooper, Carson. " Does distributed green infrastructure or centralized green infrastructure have a greater effect on urban stormwater flow & pollutant loads? ” 2019. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Coyle, Tyler. " Houston Townhomes & Affordability: Relative townhome prices 2005-2018 .” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Davison, Brianna. " A Case for Expanding Heritage Tourism in Atlanta, Georgia by Exploring Sites From the Negro Motorist Green Book .” 2019. Supervised by Nancey Green Leigh.

Denison, John. "  The Determinants and Implications of Local Minimum Wage Adoption .” 2019. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Everhart, Justina. " Coastal Wetlands and Sea-Level Rise: A Case for Climate Adaptation Zones in Coastal Georgia .” 2019. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Friedman, Mirit. " Promoting the Economic Mobility of Clients Through Identifying Leverage Points in the Atlanta Community Food Bank Partner Network. ” 2019. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey​

Gao, Meng. " Bike Infrastructure Evaluation of Midtown Atlanta, A GIS and Statistics Based Study. ” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Geronimo, Laura. " Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge: Incorporating Uncertainty and Equity into Transportation Planning for the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico. ” 2019. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Graszer, Grace. " Closing Peachtree and Pine: Evaluating Homeless Strategies in Atlanta, Georgia .” 2019. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Healy, Clare. " Middle Ground: Market Demand and the Housing Supply Mismatch for Middle Housing in the United States. ” 2019. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Huffman, Leigh. " The Impact of Urbanization on Biodiversity in the Asheville-Brevard Combined Statistical Area. ” 2019. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Johnson, Nicholas. " Expanding Equity in Sustainability Projects Through Community Engagement: Can Organizations Adapt? ” 2019. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Johnson, Jennifer. " Using K-12 Schools to Promote Sustainable Communities. ” 2019. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

McCoy, Trevor. “ Reallocating Food Waste: Evaluating Food Waste Management Options for Atlanta ” 2019. Supervised by Michael Elliott.

Pang, Jian. " A Review on The Concept of Transit-dependency And The Research on The Multidimensional Transit-dependency Index .” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Schlom, Ryan. " How Has U+2 Enforcement Affected Housing Affordability in Fort Collins? Using the Synthetic Control Method to Analyze the Affordability Implications of Residential Occupancy Regulation .” 2019. Supervised by Thom Malone.

Scott, Eric. " Parking at Megachurches - Managing accessibility, hospitality and stewardship: A Case Study of Peachtree Presbyterian Church .” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Sherman, Andrea. " Rural Mobility for Older Adults: Matching Georgia’s Future Needs with Potential Capacity for Volunteer Driver Programs .” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Sherman, Jonathan. " A Flood Resilience Policy Analysis: New York City .” 2019. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Smith, Andrew. " Envisioning a Complete Streets Prioritization Scheme for Georgia’s Small and Medium-Sized Cities. ” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Stephens, Nicholas. " Toward a Complete Park: Pursuing ideals of social equity, ecological enrichment and economic empowerment for the Westside Park at Bellwood Quarry, a regional-scale park in Atlanta, Georgia. ” 2019. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Tyger, Curtis. " Church-Based Transportation: A New Shared Mobility Service That Converts Church Parking Lots into Transportation Hubs for Metro Atlanta Communities .” 2019. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

2018 Applied Research Papers

Agnew, Darian. " Extending homeownership opportunities to prospective borrowers burdened by student loan debt. " 2018. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Browne, Samantha. "  The Causes and Effects of Environmental Gentrification: An Examination of the Impacts of the Trinity River Balanced Vision Plan on West Dallas, TX. " 2018. Supervised by Thomas Debo.

Dieg, Melanie. " Is Columbia a Different Neighbor? A Comparative Analysis of University Real Estate Acquisition Practices. " 2018. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Diwangkari, Andyan. " Urban Form and Neighborhood Vulnerability to Climate Change Case Study: Jakarta, Indonesia. " 2018. Supervised by Perry Yang.

Dodson, Christy. " Neighborhood Diversity and Middle Housing in an Atlanta Context. " 2018. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Duncan, Dorraine. " Participatory Solid Waste Management A Proposal for Jamaica's Informal Settlements. " 2018. Supervised by Michael Elliott.

Dutt, Florina. " Reclaiming Public Realm to Improve Human Heatlh and Enviornment in Indian Cities. " 2018. Supervised by Subhro Guhathakurta.

Erwin, Lexi. " Working Moms and Economic Development Policy: Are We Planning for Women? " 2018. Supervised by Anna Kim.

French, Megan. " Accuracy of a Heat Vulnerability Index for Estimating Heat Mortality in Dallas, Texas. " 2018. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Galloway, Allison. " Slow Urbanism as a Sprawl Antidote Winning the Race on Foot Borrowing from Slow Urbanism's Place-Based Sustainable Practices. " 2018. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Hirt, Mary. " Homeownership and Racial Wealth Disparity in the Southeast: Factor Ratio Reweighting Analysis of Homeownership in Six Southeast States and the Importance of Race-Conscious Housing Policies. " 2018. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Ijaz, Mishele. " Growth versus Development: The Case of China Pakistan Economic Corridor. " 2018. Supervised by Nancey Green Leigh.

Lancaster, Zachary. " Information Theory as a Measure of Sociodemographic Change. " 2018. Supervised by Perry Yang.

Marinelli, Abigail. " Curbing Zombie Cars: Implementing a VMT Tax on Zero-Occupant AVs to Discourage Unnecessary Trips. " 2018. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Meng, Chao. " Evaluation of the Equity of Bikeshare System Accessibility: A Case Study of Chicago. " 2018. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Mildner, Caitlin. " Planning for Local Agency Transportation Asset Management An Analysis of Knowledge and Resource Shortcomings within Local Georgia Agencies. " 2018. Supervised by Subhro Guhathakurta.

Morrison, Marc. " Atlanta's Urban Ecosystem Services: A Neighborhood Comparison Analysis. " 2018. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Rao, Pooja. " Transit fare structure and equity: Case of MARTA, Atlanta. " 2018. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Rogers, Ian Michael. " Historic Preservation & Progress in Atlanta: Zoning Strategies for Adaptive Reuse and Revitalization ." 2018. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Saxton, John. " A High-Injury Network for Atlanta. " 2018. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Sepkowitz, Isabel. " The Great Retail Metamorphosis: How Americans Shop is How Americans Live Metro Atlanta Case Study. " 2018. Supervised by Subhro Guhathakurta.

Thayer, Chris. " Contesting Conventional Wisdom: The Link Between Subsidy Layering and Legal Expenses in the LIHTC Program. " 2018. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Van Dyke, Rebecca. " The Impact of Gender, Race, and Income on Transit Travel Behavior in Boston and Atlanta. " 2018. Supervised by Michael Elliott.

Veriah, Revathi. " Classification of Informal Settlements Based on their Susceptibility to Climate Change. " 2018. Supervised by Michael Elliott.

Waidhas, Kelsey. " An Academic Addendum for the Sandy Springs Wayfinding System: An Option Paper Report. " 2018. Supervised by William Drummond.

Woods, Gloria. " Resilient Black Neighborhoods in Urban Environments Through Effective Community Planning. " 2018. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Wu, Yanlin. " Modifying and Extending the Geodesign Framework for Eco Campus Design Project. " 2018. Supervised by Perry Yang.

2017 Applied Research Papers

Anand, Spandana. " The Future of Transportation: Autonomous Vehicles. " 2017. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Barrow, Megan. " As Sea Level Rise in the Southeast, Are Transportation Planners on Board with Climate Justice? " 2017. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Bedsole, Matthew. " Developing a Charitable and Targeted Property Tax Relief Fund: An Anti-Displacement Initiative for Atlanta’s Westside Neighborhoods. " 2017. Supervised by Mike Dobbins. 

Boyd, Nicholas. " The Urban Forest and Environmental Justice: A Review of the Literature. " 2017. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Bozarth, Ashley. " Permanent Supportive Housing in the City of Atlanta: Transitioning to a Comprehensive Housing First Approach. " 2017. Supervised by Dan Immergluck.

Burnette, Caroline. " Predicting Revitalization: a descriptive narrative and predictive analysis of neighborhood revitalization in Atlanta, Georgia. " 2017. Supervised by Subhro Guhathakurta.

Butler, Catherine. " Green Development Assessing Opportunities for the City of Atlanta. " 2017. Supervised by Dan Immergluck.

Day, Anna. " In Favor of Farm to Fork: An assessment of the local food system in metropolitan Atlanta. " 2017. Supervised by Michael Elliot.

De Leon, David. " Bridging the Gap: an Analysis of the Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis and Social Service and Affordable Housing Accessibility in Atlanta ." 2017. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Duckworth, Richard. " Preparing for Light Rail in the Purple Line Corridor. " 2017. Supervised by Alex Karner. 

Estes, Emily. " Do Young Children Affect Travel Behavior for Parents in Atlanta? " 2017. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Fleming, Ryan. " Strip Clubs in Portland, Oregon and Atlanta, Georgia: The Tension between First Amendment Free Speech & Crime-related Secondary Effects. " 2017. Supervised Nancey Green Leigh.

French, Emma. " People-centered Planning for Smart Cities: Exploring the Use of Smart Cities Technologies in Efforts to Engage the Public in Planning in and around Proctor Creek Watershed. " 2017. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Hanson, Alex. " Measuring the Impact of Complete Streets Projects on Bicyclist and Pedestrian Safety in Sacramento County, California. " 2017. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Hashemi Toroghi, Shahaboddin. " Toward a Sustainable Neighborhood: Examining the Impact of the Mixed-use Development on Neighborhood Energy Consumption. " 2017. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Haston, Joshua. " Planning the Next BRAC: Redevelopment Alternatives for Dobbins Air Reserve Base and Air Force Plant No. 6. " 2017. Supervised by Brian Stone. 

Kent, Margaret. " Prioritizing Low-Stress Bicycle Accessibility in Baltimore. " 2017. Supervised by Alex Karner.

Kong, Jing. " Impact Analysis of the Built Environment on Quality of Life. " 2017. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Mara, Kevin. " Large-Scale Mixed-Use Developments as Catalytic Real Estate Projects: Evaluating the Narrative of Neighborhood Revitalization. " 2017. Supervised by Dan Immergluck.

Mayor, Phoebe. " Striking the Balance between Neighborhood Change and Income Diversity Lessons from Metropolitan Atlanta. " 2017. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Metal, Melanie. " Tailoring Green Stormwater Infrastructure to Hawiian Lansdcapes. " 2017. Supervised by William Drummond.

Patterson, Grant. " Arts-Based Neighborhood Revitalization Engaging Artists & Creative Entrepreneurs to Identify Policy Recommendations to Support Arts-Based Revitalization in South Downtown, Atlanta. " 2017. Supervised by Anna Kim.

Shelton, Austin. " This Place Matters: Exploring Rural Planning through Funding a Rail-Trail in Harris County, Georgia. " 2017. Supervised by William Drummond.

Yang, Wenhui. " Analysis on Social Impacts of Atlanta Streetcar Systems Emissions. " 2017. Supervised by TIm Welch.

Zeng, Tianran. " Transit as Solution for Spatial Mismatch. " 2017. Supervised by Tim Welch.

2016 Applied Research Papers

Bonn, Sara Jane. " Digital Media and the Built Environment: the Potential Impact of Digital Devices on Public Space ." 2016. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Boyd, Joseph. " Walkability, Pedestrian Infrastructure, & Transit Access in Atlanta: A Case Study on Ashby, Inman Park/Reynoldstown, and Lindbergh MARTA Stations ." 2016. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Buker, Allison. " Mapping the Morphological History of Westside Savannah ." 2016. Supervised by Richard Dagenhart. 

Collot, Adeline. " A Culture of High Speeds and Accumulating Debt: A Case Study of French High-Speed Rail Financing Practices. " 2016. Supervised by Time Welch.

Date, Chirag. " Virtual and Fantastic Urban Perceptions through Cinema and Their Relation to Contemporary Cities ." 2016. Supervised by Mike Dobbins.

McKinney, Mia. " A Dream Deferred? Utilizing the Limited-Equity Housing Cooperative Model as a Solution to Atlanta's Affordable Housing Issue. " 2016. Supervised by Mike Dobbins.

Kao, Mindy. " Creating Fair Housing Metrics and Milestones Using Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Data " 2016. Supervised by Dan Immergluck. .

Lueders, Abram. "J ane Jacobs, Quantified: Exploring the Legacy of the 20th Century’s Most Provocative Urban Theorist ." 2016. Supervised by Dan Immergluck.

Maines, Katherine. " How Observation Can Enhance Understanding of Walkability and Bikability around Transit Stations ." 2016. Supervised by Brian Stone. 

Martin, Tyler. " Assessing the Influence of Policy Factors on Alternative Fuel Vehicle Adoption in Georgia ." 2016. Supervised by Catherine Ross. 

Price, Shelley. " Enhancing National Parks for Visitors with Disabilities through Customer-Experience-Based Decision Making ." 2016. Supervised by Michael Elliott.

Reeves, William. " Activating the Alleys of Austin ." 2016. Supervised by Mike Dobbins.

Sanker, Rishi Raghav. " Urban Tourism and Transportation: A Lesson For Atlanta. " 2016. Supervised by Catherine Ross. 

Smith, Stephanie." An Evaluation of the Physical and Demographic Characteristics Contributing to On-Site Sewage Management System Failure in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia ." 2016. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Yanten, Angelica. " School Closures and Their Impact on Local Communities ." 2016. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

2015 Applied Research Papers

Ashdown, Marcus. “ Alternative Intersection Design Strategies: How Georgia and the US are Changing Outdated Transportation Design Techniques .” 2015. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Auguin, Corentin. " Toward Financially Sustainable Public Transportation Systems-Type of Service Impacts on Cost Efficiency. " 2015. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Bowman, Ryan. “ Planning and Policy Implementation Strategies for Green Stormwater Best Management Practices in the Proctor Creek Watershed, Atlanta, Ga .” 2015. Supervised by Brian Stone.

Bustin, Allison. “ Zoning For Obesity: Incorporating Context-Based Strategies For Improved Health In Municipal Zoning Codes.” 2015. Supervised by Michael Dobbins.

Cook, Kirsten.  “Planning Through the Shared Use of Resources: A Case Study of DeKalb County, Georgia.” 2015. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Davis, Khaliff.  “Can Pop-Up Shops Improve My Community? An Analysis of the Linkages between Tactical Urbanism and Community Development.” 2015.  Supervised by Dan Immergluck.

Grimes, Jennifer.  “The Atlanta Beeline: Invertebrate Pollinator Corridor Suitability Analysis of the Metropolitan Atlanta Region.” 2015. Supervised by Bill Drummond.

Guthart, Robert.  “Analysis of Transportation Accessibility to Hospitals in Jacksonville, Florida.” 2015. Supervised by Perry Yang.

Ingram, Carlton.  “An Infill Station in Atlanta: Evaluating a MARTA rail stop at Hulsey Yard.”  2015. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Mingus, Charlene Deanne.  “Bicyclist Perceived Level of Traffic Stress: A Quality-of-Service Measure.” 2015. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Novsam, Jason.  “The Decline and Asymmetrical Resurgence of American Transit: A Case Study of Seattle.” 2015. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Perumbeti, Katherine.  “An Assessment of Social and Health Equity in Atlanta Streets Alive Events.” 2015. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Plante, Jessica.  “LIHTC Developments in Atlanta and Neighborhood Effects .” 2015. Supervised by Dan Immergluck.

Rindge, Brianna.  “Sustainable Development for Professional Sports Stadiums.” 2015. Supervised by Bill Drummond.

Shields, Madelyn.  “Women's Participation in Seattle's High-Tech Economy.” 2015. Supervised by Anna Kim. 

Featured Applied Research Papers

Caledonia Orsini (MCRP '20)

Katherine Martin (MCRP+MS-PP '20)

2021 theses.

Kim, Ilsu. " Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed People’s Attitudes about Where to Live? Some Preliminary Answers from a Study of the of the Atlanta Housing Market ." 2021. Supervised by Subhrajit Guhathakurta.

Lee, Seolha. " The Shape of Discourse in Urban Movements through the Lens of Social Media: A Case Study of the Anti-Redevelopment Movement in South Korea ." 2021. Supervised by Clio Andris.

Miller, Bryce Curtis. " Cluster-based Delineation of Megaregions in the United States: Identifying administrative boundaries that reflect meta-communities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of governments ." 2021. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

2020 Theses

Arias, Daniel Fernando. "Estimating the Effects of Vehicle Speeds on Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety on the Georgia Arterial Roadway Network." 2020.

Jiang, Qian. " Transit-Oriented Development Parking Demand Analysis: A Case Study of MARTA." 2020.

Rose, Jessica. " The Application of Ecosystem Services in Higher Education Planning ." 2020.

Postma, Deborah E. " The Future of Streets in an Age of Pandemics ." 2020.

Todd, Kara Grace. " Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Implementing a MARTA Youth Fare ." 2020.

Tucker, William. " Measuring Climate Resilience in the Built Environment Around the Atlanta Beltline. " 2020.

2019 Theses

Boddupalli, Sreekar-Shashank. “Estimating Demand for an Electric Vertical Landing Takeoff (eVTOL) Air Taxi Service Using Discrete Choice Modeling” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Borsch, Adam. “Analyzing the Difference Between Bike Share Trips Made on Regular and Electric Bicycles” 2019. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Chang, Chia-Huai. “Estimating Managed Lanes Door-to-door Travel Timesavings using Shortest Path Algorithms” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Greenwald, Jeremy. “It Takes Green to Go Green: An Atlanta-Based Evolution of Employer-Provided Commuting Incentives as a Method to Overcome  Worksite Car-Dependency” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Patel, Deep. “Economic and Social Sustainability of Sidewalk Infrastructure” 2019. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

2018 Theses

Douglass, Sara. "Federal Transit Funding Implications of Urbanization: A Nationwide Assessment" 2018. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Dyess, Chelsea. "An Assessment of Pedestrian Infrastructure Quality and the Effect on Travel Time and Mobility for Users with Physical Limitations." 2018. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Nord, Anna. " A Statewide Assessment of Trending Urban Areas in Georgia and the Implications on Rural Public Transit Funding." 2018. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Senthilkumar, Sanjay. "Making Bike Share Transit Compatible." 2018. Supervised by Timothy Welch.

Tobey, Michael. "Linking MPBN and System of Systems Thinking: To Improve Outcomes in Urban Environments." 2018. Supervised by Perry Yang.

2017 Theses

Koo, Bonwoo. "Spatio-temporal Patterns of Urban Tree Canopy and Environmental Equity in Atlanta." 2017. Supervised by Nisha Botchwey.

Sperling, Elliot. "Advancing Strategic Focuses through Performance-based Evaluation – the Growth of State DOT Approaches." 2017. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

2016 Theses

Martin, Tyler. "Assessing the Influence of Policy Factors on Alternative Fuel Vehicle Adoption in Georgia." 2016. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Smith, Stephanie. "An Evaluation of the Physical and Demographic Characteristics Contributing to On-Site Sewage Management System Failure in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia." 2016. Supervised by Brian Stone.

2015 Theses

Bearn, Cary. "Measuring Low Stress Bike access to MARTA." 2015. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Maier, George. "Forecasting Ridership Impacts of Transit Oriented Development at MARTA Rail Stations." 2015. Supervised by Tim Welch.

Plummer, Audrey. "Retroffiting Closed Golf Courses." 2015. Supervised by Richard Dagenhart.

Prabhakar, Niranjani. "Measuring Cost-Effectiveness of Idle Reduction Technologies in Heavy Duty Trucks." 2015. Supervised by Catherine Ross.

Applied Research Examples: Empowering Real-World Solutions

Understand the meaning of ‘ibid’ and its usage in academic and legal writing. Explore citation practices and raise your referencing skills.

Applied research plays a crucial role in various fields, providing practical solutions to real-world problems and driving advancements in technology, healthcare, business, and more. It bridges the gap between theory and practice by translating scientific knowledge into tangible outcomes that positively impact individuals, organizations, communities, or industries. Applied research enables us to develop innovative solutions, refine existing practices, and make informed decisions based on evidence. By focusing on practical applications, applied research contributes to advancements in various fields, ultimately leading to societal progress and improvement. It serves as a driving force for innovation, economic growth, and the overall betterment of individuals and communities. 

What is Applied Research and its purposes?

Applied research is a systematic and practical approach to investigating real-world problems and finding practical solutions. It makes application of scientific methods and techniques to gather and analyze data, conduct experiments, and make evidence-based recommendations. The primary purpose of applied research is to address specific issues or challenges in various fields. It aims to make better-existing practices, processes, or products, validate the effectiveness of interventions or programs, inform policy decisions, and contribute to the development and implementation of evidence-based strategies. 

When using Applied Research

Some common applications of applied research include:

Business and Marketing

Through the utilization of applied research, organizations can gain valuable insights into consumer behavior, evaluate marketing strategies, assess market trends, and identify opportunities for product development and innovation.

Healthcare and Medicine

Applied research is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of medical treatments, interventions, and healthcare policies. It helps in the advancement of patient outcomes, optimizes healthcare delivery systems, and informs evidence-based medical practices.

In education, applied research informs curriculum development, evaluates program effectiveness, guides evidence-based instruction, informs policy decisions, supports professional development, and optimizes student assessment and evaluation.

Public Policy and Governance

Policymakers can leverage data-driven insights to inform decision-making, evaluate program effectiveness, and enhance governance practices. This approach fosters evidence-based policymaking, promotes transparency, and facilitates effective and equitable governance.

Environmental Studies

Applied research is used to address environmental challenges, such as climate change, pollution, and natural resource management. It helps develop sustainable practices, assess the environmental impact of policies and projects, and guide conservation efforts.

Technology and Engineering

Optimizing efficiency and advancing technology, applied research in technological and engineering fields develops and upgrades products, systems, and processes, addressing practical problems with innovative solutions.

Agriculture and Food Science

Applied research is conducted to raise agricultural practices and crop yields, ensure food safety, and develop sustainable farming methods. It addresses challenges related to food production, distribution, and environmental impact.

Types of Applied Research

Applied research includes various types tailored to address specific practical issues and inform decision-making. Some common types of applied research are:

Evaluation Research

This type of research focuses on assessing the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of programs, interventions, policies, or initiatives. It measures outcomes, identifies strengths and weaknesses, and provides recommendations for improvement.

Action Research

Action research involves collaborative inquiry and problem-solving in real-world settings. It emphasizes the active participation of stakeholders to identify and address practical challenges, often leading to immediate changes or interventions.

Research and Development

R&D is a type of applied research with the objective to create innovative products and services to meet market needs. It requires gathering market information, improving existing products, and developing new ones to fulfill customer demands and enhance organizational effectiveness.

Policy Research

Generating evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, policy research plays a crucial role in informing policy development, implementation, and evaluation. By analyzing existing policies and identifying areas for improvement, it aims to shape effective and informed decision-making processes.

Data Collection Methods

Data collection methods refer to the techniques and approaches used to gather information or data for research purposes. These methods vary depending on the nature of the research question, the type of data needed, and the resources available. Here are some common data collection methods:

This collects data through structured questionnaires or interviews. They can be administered in person, over the phone, through mail, or online. Surveys are useful for gathering information from a large number of participants and obtaining self-reported data on attitudes, opinions, behaviors, or demographics.

Interviews conduct one-on-one or group conversations with participants to gather detailed information. Interviews can be structured (with predetermined questions), semi-structured (with a set of guiding questions), or unstructured (allowing for open-ended discussion). Interviews are useful for exploring complex topics, capturing in-depth insights, and understanding participants’ perspectives.

Observations

The method of observation watches and records behaviors, actions, or events in their natural settings. Researchers can be participant observers (actively participating in the observed context) or non-participant observers (observing from a distance). Observations are valuable for studying social interactions, behaviors, and patterns in real-life contexts.

Experiments

Experiments manipulate variables under controlled conditions to determine cause-and-effect relationships. Participants are assigned to different experimental conditions, and data is collected to assess the impact of the manipulated variables. Experiments allow researchers to study causal relationships and test hypotheses.

Data Analysis Methods

Data analysis methods are the techniques and procedures used to analyze and interpret data collected during a research study. These methods help researchers make sense of the data, identify patterns, draw conclusions, and answer research questions. Data analysis plays a crucial role in research as it transforms raw data into meaningful insights and supports evidence-based decision-making. Some common data analysis methods are:

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics summarize and describe the main characteristics of the data. They include measures such as mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and frequency distributions. Descriptive statistics provide a snapshot of the data’s central tendency, dispersion, and distribution.

Inferential Statistics

Inferential statistics make inferences or draw conclusions about a population based on a sample. These methods help researchers test hypotheses, determine statistical significance, and make generalizations. Examples of inferential statistics include t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression analysis, and chi-square tests.

Data Mining

Data mining uses computational algorithms to discover patterns, trends, and relationships within large datasets. It helps identify hidden insights and generate predictive models. Data mining techniques include association rule mining, classification, clustering, and anomaly detection.

Applied Research Methodology

Applied research methodology refers to the systematic approach used to conduct applied research studies. It is a series of steps and procedures designed to gather relevant data, analyze it, and draw meaningful conclusions to address real-world problems or provide practical solutions. The methodology for applied research typically includes the following key components:

Problem Identification

Clearly defining and understanding the specific problem or issue to be addressed is the first step in applied research methodology. Conducting a thorough literature review, consulting with experts, and engaging stakeholders are essential steps to gain insights into the problem’s context, scope, and potential impact.

Research Design

Developing a research design involves determining the appropriate research approach, such as quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods, based on the research objectives and the nature of the problem. It also includes selecting the appropriate data collection methods, sampling techniques, and data analysis procedures.

Data Collection

Data collection methods are chosen based on the research design and the type of data required. Common data collection methods include surveys, interviews, observations, experiments, case studies, and document analysis. Rigorous data collection techniques ensure the collection of accurate and reliable data relevant to the research problem.

Data Analysis

Data analysis is about processing, organizing, and interpreting the collected data to derive meaningful insights. Depending on the nature of the data, quantitative analysis techniques such as statistical analysis, regression analysis, or data mining may be used. Qualitative analysis techniques, such as thematic analysis or content analysis, can be employed for textual or qualitative data.

Results and Conclusion

The analyzed data is used to draw conclusions, identify patterns, and make inferences related to the research problem. The results are presented in a clear and concise manner, often through tables, charts, or visualizations. Conclusions should be supported by evidence from the data analysis and aligned with the research objectives.

Examples of Applied Research

The applied research examples illustrate how this addresses real-world issues and aims to provide practical solutions that can be implemented and make a meaningful impact in various domains. Here are some applied research examples across different fields:

In healthcare, the focus is finding practical solutions to improve patient care and outcomes. For example, a study investigating the effectiveness of a new medical treatment or therapy for a specific condition would be considered applied research.

The primary objective is to increase teaching methods, curriculum development, and student learning outcomes. This involves evaluating the effectiveness of various instructional approaches and designing interventions to foster improved student engagement and achievement.

In the domain of business and marketing, the emphasis is on tackling practical issues encountered by organizations. This can include analyzing consumer behavior to devise impactful marketing strategies or conducting market research to evaluate the viability of introducing a new product. Such endeavors align with the principles of applied research.

Environmental Science

The objective is to devise practical solutions for addressing environmental challenges. This can encompass studying the effects of pollution on ecosystems, formulating sustainable practices, or assessing the efficacy of conservation initiatives. These pursuits align with the principles of applied research.

Engineering and Technology

The emphasis of applied research on engineering and technology is to create inventive solutions for real-world problems. This could entail research endeavors aimed at enhancing energy efficiency, refining manufacturing techniques, or pioneering novel materials.

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Home » Applied Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Applied Research – Types, Methods and Examples

Table of Contents

Applied Research

Definition:

Applied research is a type of scientific inquiry that focuses on developing practical solutions to real-world problems. It involves the use of existing knowledge, theories, and techniques to address specific problems or challenges in a particular field or industry.

Applied research is often conducted in collaboration with industry or government partners, who provide funding and expertise to support the research. The results of applied research are typically intended to be directly applicable to the real world, and may involve the development of new products, technologies, or processes.

Types of Applied Research

Types of Applied Research are as follows:

Action Research

This type of research is designed to solve specific problems within an organization or community. The research involves collaboration between researchers and stakeholders to develop solutions to issues that affect the organization or community.

Evaluation Research

This type of research is used to assess the effectiveness of a particular program, policy, or intervention. Evaluation research is often used in government, healthcare, and social service settings to determine whether programs are meeting their intended goals.

Developmental Research

This type of research is used to develop new products, technologies, or processes. The research may involve the testing of prototypes or the development of new methods for production or delivery.

Diagnostic Research

This type of research is used to identify the causes of problems or issues. Diagnostic research is often used in healthcare, where researchers may investigate the causes of a particular disease or condition.

Policy Research

This type of research is used to inform policy decisions. Policy research may involve analyzing the impact of existing policies or evaluating the potential outcomes of proposed policies.

Predictive Research

This type of research is used to forecast future trends or events. Predictive research is often used in marketing, where researchers may use data analysis to predict consumer behavior or market trends.

Data Collection Methods

In applied research, data collection methods can be broadly classified into two categories: Quantitative and Qualitative methods:

Quantitative Data Collection

Quantitative research methods involve collecting numerical data that can be analyzed statistically. The most commonly used quantitative data collection methods in applied research include:

• Surveys : Surveys are questionnaires designed to collect data from a large sample of people. Surveys can be conducted face-to-face, over the phone, or online.
• Experiments : Experiments involve manipulating variables to test cause-and-effect relationships. Experiments can be conducted in the lab or in the field.
• Observations : Observations involve watching and recording behaviors or events in a systematic way. Observations can be conducted in the lab or in natural settings.
• Secondary data analysis: Secondary data analysis involves analyzing data that has already been collected by someone else. This can include data from government agencies, research institutes, or other sources.

Qualitative Data Collection

Qualitative research methods involve collecting non-numerical data that can be analyzed for themes and patterns. The most commonly used qualitative data collection methods in applied research include:

• Interviews : Interviews involve asking open-ended questions to individuals or groups. Interviews can be conducted in-person, over the phone, or online.
• Focus groups : Focus groups involve a group of people discussing a topic with a moderator. Focus groups can be conducted in-person or online.
• Case studies : Case studies involve in-depth analysis of a single individual, group, or organization.
• Document analysis : Document analysis involves analyzing written or recorded documents to extract data. This can include analyzing written records, audio recordings, or video recordings.

Data Analysis Methods

In applied research, data analysis methods can be broadly classified into two categories: Quantitative and Qualitative methods:

Quantitative Data Analysis

Quantitative data analysis methods involve analyzing numerical data to identify patterns and trends. The most commonly used quantitative data analysis methods in applied research include:

• Descriptive statistics: Descriptive statistics involve summarizing and presenting data using measures such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation.
• Inferential statistics : Inferential statistics involve testing hypotheses and making predictions about a population based on a sample of data. This includes methods such as t-tests, ANOVA, regression analysis, and correlation analysis.
• Data mining: Data mining involves analyzing large datasets to identify patterns and relationships using machine learning algorithms.

Qualitative Data Analysis

Qualitative data analysis methods involve analyzing non-numerical data to identify themes and patterns. The most commonly used qualitative data analysis methods in applied research include:

• Content analysis: Content analysis involves analyzing written or recorded data to identify themes and patterns. This includes methods such as thematic analysis, discourse analysis, and narrative analysis.
• Grounded theory: Grounded theory involves developing theories and hypotheses based on the analysis of data.
• Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Interpretative phenomenological analysis involves analyzing data to identify the subjective experiences of individuals.
• Case study analysis: Case study analysis involves analyzing a single individual, group, or organization in-depth to identify patterns and themes.

Applied Research Methodology

Applied research methodology refers to the set of procedures, tools, and techniques used to design, conduct, and analyze research studies aimed at solving practical problems in real-world settings. The general steps involved in applied research methodology include:

• Identifying the research problem: The first step in applied research is to identify the problem to be studied. This involves conducting a literature review to identify existing knowledge and gaps in the literature, and to determine the research question.
• Developing a research design : Once the research question has been identified, the next step is to develop a research design. This involves determining the appropriate research method (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods), selecting the data collection methods, and designing the sampling strategy.
• Collecting data: The third step in applied research is to collect data using the selected data collection methods. This can include surveys, interviews, experiments, observations, or a combination of methods.
• Analyzing data : Once the data has been collected, it needs to be analyzed using appropriate data analysis methods. This can include descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, content analysis, or other methods, depending on the type of data collected.
• Interpreting and reporting findings : The final step in applied research is to interpret the findings and report the results. This involves drawing conclusions from the data analysis and presenting the findings in a clear and concise manner.

Applications of Applied Research

Some applications of applied research are as follows:

• Product development: Applied research can help companies develop new products or improve existing ones. For example, a company might conduct research to develop a new type of battery that lasts longer or a new type of software that is more efficient.
• Medical research : Applied research can be used to develop new treatments or drugs for diseases. For example, a pharmaceutical company might conduct research to develop a new cancer treatment.
• Environmental research : Applied research can be used to study and address environmental problems such as pollution and climate change. For example, research might be conducted to develop new technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Agriculture : Applied research can be used to improve crop yields, develop new varieties of plants, and study the impact of pests and diseases on crops.
• Education : Applied research can be used to study the effectiveness of teaching methods or to develop new teaching strategies.
• Transportation : Applied research can be used to develop new technologies for transportation, such as electric cars or high-speed trains.
• Communication : Applied research can be used to improve communication technologies, such as developing new methods for wireless communication or improving the quality of video calls.

Examples of Applied Research

Here are some real-time examples of applied research:

• COVID-19 Vaccine Development: The development of COVID-19 vaccines is a prime example of applied research. Researchers applied their knowledge of virology and immunology to develop vaccines that could prevent or reduce the severity of COVID-19.
• Autonomous Vehicles : The development of autonomous vehicles involves applied research in areas such as artificial intelligence, computer vision, and robotics. Companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Uber are conducting extensive research to improve their autonomous vehicle technology.
• Renewable Energy : Research is being conducted on renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro power to improve efficiency and reduce costs. This is an example of applied research that aims to solve environmental problems.
• Precision Agriculture : Applied research is being conducted in the field of precision agriculture, which involves using technology to optimize crop yields and reduce waste. This includes research on crop sensors, drones, and data analysis.
• Telemedicine : Telemedicine involves using technology to deliver healthcare remotely. Applied research is being conducted to improve the quality of telemedicine services, such as developing new technologies for remote diagnosis and treatment.
• Cybersecurity : Applied research is being conducted to improve cybersecurity measures and protect against cyber threats. This includes research on encryption, network security, and data protection.

Purpose of Applied Research

The purpose of applied research is to solve practical problems or improve existing products, technologies, or processes. Applied research is focused on specific goals and objectives and is designed to have direct practical applications in the real world. It seeks to address problems and challenges faced by individuals, organizations, or communities and aims to provide solutions that can be implemented in a practical manner.

The primary purpose of applied research is to generate new knowledge that can be used to solve real-world problems or improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing products, technologies, or processes. Applied research is often conducted in collaboration with industry, government, or non-profit organizations to address practical problems and create innovative solutions.

Applied research is also used to inform policy decisions by providing evidence-based insights into the effectiveness of specific interventions or programs. By conducting research on the impact of policies and programs, decision-makers can make informed decisions about how to allocate resources and prioritize interventions.

Overall, the purpose of applied research is to improve people’s lives by developing practical solutions to real-world problems. It aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and to ensure that research findings are put into action to achieve tangible benefits.

When to use Applied Research

Here are some specific situations when applied research may be appropriate:

• When there is a need to develop a new product : Applied research can be used to develop new products that meet the needs of consumers. For example, a company may conduct research to develop a new type of smartphone with improved features.
• When there is a need to improve an existing product : Applied research can also be used to improve existing products. For example, a company may conduct research to improve the battery life of an existing product.
• When there is a need to solve a practical problem: Applied research can be used to solve practical problems faced by individuals, organizations, or communities. For example, research may be conducted to find solutions to problems related to healthcare, transportation, or environmental issues.
• When there is a need to inform policy decisions: Applied research can be used to inform policy decisions by providing evidence-based insights into the effectiveness of specific interventions or programs.
• When there is a need to improve efficiency and effectiveness: Applied research can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes or systems. For example, research may be conducted to identify ways to streamline manufacturing processes or to improve the delivery of healthcare services.

Characteristics of Applied Research

The following are some of the characteristics of applied research:

• Focus on solving real-world problems : Applied research focuses on addressing specific problems or needs in a practical setting, with the aim of developing solutions that can be implemented in the real world.
• Goal-oriented: A pplied research is goal-oriented, with a specific aim of solving a particular problem or meeting a specific need. The research is usually designed to achieve a specific outcome, such as developing a new product, improving an existing process, or solving a particular issue.
• Practical and relevant: Applied research is practical and relevant to the needs of the industry or field in which it is conducted. It aims to provide practical solutions that can be implemented to improve processes or solve problems.
• Collaborative : Applied research often involves collaboration between researchers and practitioners, such as engineers, scientists, and business professionals. Collaboration allows for the exchange of knowledge and expertise, which can lead to more effective solutions.
• Data-driven: Applied research is data-driven, relying on empirical evidence to support its findings and recommendations. Data collection and analysis are important components of applied research, as they help to identify patterns and trends that can inform decision-making.
• Results-oriented: Applied research is results-oriented, with an emphasis on achieving measurable outcomes. Research findings are often used to inform decisions about product development, process improvement, or policy changes.
• Time-bound : Applied research is often conducted within a specific timeframe, with deadlines for achieving specific outcomes. This helps to ensure that the research stays focused on its goals and that the results are timely and relevant to the needs of the industry or field.

Advantages of Applied Research

Some of the advantages of applied research are as follows:

• Practical solutions: Applied research is focused on developing practical solutions to real-world problems, making it highly relevant to the needs of the industry or field in which it is conducted. The solutions developed through applied research are often highly effective and can be implemented quickly to address specific issues.
• Improved processes: Applied research can help organizations to improve their processes, leading to increased efficiency and productivity. The research can identify areas for improvement, such as bottlenecks or inefficiencies, and provide recommendations for optimizing processes.
• Innovation: Applied research can lead to the development of new products, services, and technologies that can transform industries and create new opportunities for growth and innovation. The research can help organizations to identify unmet needs and develop new solutions to meet them.
• Collaboration : Applied research often involves collaboration between researchers and practitioners, leading to the exchange of knowledge and expertise. Collaboration can result in more effective solutions and can help to build partnerships between academia and industry.
• Increased competitiveness : Applied research can help organizations to stay competitive by enabling them to adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs. The research can provide insights into emerging trends and technologies, helping organizations to stay ahead of the curve.
• Economic growth: Applied research can contribute to economic growth by creating new industries and jobs. The research can lead to the development of new technologies and products that can drive economic growth and create new opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Limitations of Applied Research

Some of the limitations of applied research are as follows:

• Limited generalizability: Applied research often focuses on specific contexts and may not be generalizable to other settings. This means that the findings of applied research may not be applicable to other industries, regions, or populations.
• Time and resource constraints: Applied research is often conducted within a specific timeframe and with limited resources. This can limit the scope and depth of the research and may prevent researchers from exploring all possible avenues.
• Potential for bias: Applied research may be influenced by the interests and perspectives of the organization or industry funding the research. This can lead to a bias in the research and potentially compromise the objectivity and validity of the findings.
• Ethical considerations: Applied research may raise ethical concerns, particularly if it involves human subjects or sensitive issues. Researchers must adhere to ethical standards and ensure that the research is conducted in a responsible and respectful manner.
• Limited theoretical development: Applied research tends to focus on practical solutions and may not contribute significantly to theoretical development in a particular field. This can limit the broader impact of the research and may hinder the development of new theories and frameworks.
• Limited focus on long-term impact: Applied research often focuses on short-term outcomes, such as developing a new product or improving a process. This may limit the focus on long-term impacts, such as the sustainability of the solution or its broader implications for the industry or society.

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Applied Research Essentials: Types, examples, and writing tips

By charlesworth author services.

Commencing a research journey involves a distinct definition of the investigation’s purpose, guiding the selection of the research procedure or approach. In this context, researchers can opt for either basic or applied research , each with its unique characteristics and objectives.

Embarking on the journey of conducting applied research requires a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical application. Understanding the nuances of applied research and its distinctions from basic research is crucial before delving into the intricacies of crafting an impactful paper.

What is Applied Research?

Applied research addresses specific problems with the goal of finding practical solutions. Distinguishing it from basic research, which primarily seeks to expand theoretical knowledge, applied research focuses on resolving real-world issues. It serves as a follow-up to basic or pure research, aiming to identify solutions to specific issues at individual, group, or societal levels.

Applied research encompasses various types, each tailored to address specific challenges and practical issues in different domains. The following are three common types of applied research with examples:

1. Evaluation Research:

• Purpose: Evaluation research aims to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance of programs, policies, or interventions. It seeks to determine the impact and outcomes of specific actions and initiatives.

• Application: Often employed in business, government, and non-profit sectors, evaluation research helps organisations make informed decisions by providing data-driven insights into the success or shortcomings of their endeavors.

• Example: Evaluating the impact of a workplace training program on employee productivity and job satisfaction.

2. Research and Development (R&D):

• Purpose: Research and Development applied research focuses on creating or enhancing products, goods, or services to meet the needs of specific markets or industries. It involves innovation and design to improve existing offerings or introduce new solutions.

• Application: Commonly found in industries such as technology, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, R&D applied research supports the creation of cutting-edge products and processes, contributing to market competitiveness.

• Example: Conducting R&D to develop a new pharmaceutical drug with improved efficacy and fewer side effects.

3. Action Research:

• Purpose: Action research aims to address real-world problems by actively engaging with and observing everyday life and organisational dynamics. It involves a cyclical process of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting to bring about positive change.

• Application: Widely used in fields like education, healthcare, and organisational development, action research empowers practitioners to collaboratively solve problems, improve processes, and enhance outcomes in their specific contexts.

• Example: Implementing action research in a primary school to integrate AI-driven personalised learning platforms. By actively observing the impact of AI on student engagement, understanding, and academic performance, the research aims to refine teaching strategies and optimise the integration of AI in the classroom.

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing an Applied Research Paper

Writing an applied research paper involves a systematic and purposeful approach to address practical issues in a specific field. The following steps provide a comprehensive guide for crafting an effective applied research paper:

1. Selecting a Relevant Topic:

• Identify a specific problem or question within your field of study that requires practical solutions.

• Ensure your topic aligns with the goals of applied research, focusing on real-world issues and challenges.

2. Conducting a Thorough Literature Review:

• Explore existing literature related to your chosen topic to understand the current state of knowledge.

• Identify gaps or areas where applied research can contribute valuable insights.

3. Defining Clear Objectives and Hypotheses:

• Clearly outline the goals and hypotheses of your research to guide the direction of your investigation.

• Ensure that your objectives align with the practical implications you aim to address.

4. Choosing an Appropriate Research Methodology:

• Select a methodology that aligns with your research objectives. This could involve qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods.

• Justify your choice of methodology and discuss how it will address the practical aspects of your research.

5. Collecting and Analysing Data:

• Implement your chosen methodology to collect relevant data. Ensure that your data collection methods are appropriate for the practical nature of your research.

• Thoroughly analyse the data using appropriate statistical or qualitative analysis techniques.

6. Presenting Results and Drawing Conclusions:

• Clearly present your findings, using tables, charts, or graphs if necessary.

• Connect your results back to your research objectives and draw meaningful conclusions that address the practical implications of your study.

7. Crafting a Well-structured Paper:

• Follow the specific format and guidelines provided by your university or institution.

• Typically, an applied research paper includes sections such as an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.

8. Providing Recommendations for Practice:

• Offer practical recommendations based on your research findings. Discuss how these recommendations can be implemented in real-world scenarios.

• Emphasise the actionable nature of your suggestions.

9. Acknowledging Limitations:

• Address any limitations or constraints in your research methodology or data collection.

• Acknowledge potential challenges and discuss their impact on the reliability and validity of your findings.

10. Citing Relevant Literature:

• Ensure proper citation of all sources used in your research. Follow the citation style recommended by your institution.

11. Reviewing and Revising:

• Proofread your paper for clarity, coherence, and grammatical accuracy.

• Seek feedback from peers or mentors and be open to making revisions based on constructive input.

By following these steps, researchers can produce applied research papers that not only contribute to academic knowledge but also offer practical solutions to real-world challenges in their respective fields.

In conclusion, the significance of applied research cannot be understated. With their practical orientation and real-world solutions, they serve as invaluable assets across industries, academia, and societal sectors. They are instrumental in addressing pressing challenges, guiding informed decision-making, fostering innovation, and contributing to positive changes in various fields. Applied research papers bridge the gap between theory and practice, providing actionable insights that enhance efficiency, optimise processes, and lead to tangible improvements. As agents of continuous learning and development, these papers play a pivotal role in shaping the future landscape of industries, organisations, and communities. In a world that demands pragmatic solutions, the importance of applied research papers lies in their ability to make a lasting and meaningful impact on the way we approach and solve real-world problems.

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Journal of applied psychology ®.

• Disentangling the Relationship Between Gender and Work–Family Conflict: An Integration of Theoretical Perspectives Using Meta-Analytic Methods (PDF, 341KB) December 2017 by Kristen M. Shockley, Winny Shen, Michael M. DeNunzio, Maryana L. Arvan, and Eric A. Knudsen
• The Dynamics of Team Cognition: A Process-Oriented Theory of Knowledge Emergence in Teams (PDF, 591KB) October 2016 by James A. Grand, Michael T. Braun, Goran Kuljanin, Steve W. J. Kozlowski, and Georgia T. Chao
• The Effects of Staffing and Training on Firm Productivity and Profit Growth Before, During, and After the Great Recession (PDF, 336KB) May 2014 by Youngsang Kim and Robert E. Ployhart

Feature Articles – Empirical

• I Do Not Need Feedback! Or Do I? Self-Efficacy, Perspective Taking, and Feedback Seeking (PDF, 295KB) February 2020 by Elad N. Sherf
• Goal-Setting in the Career Management Process: An Identity Theory Perspective (PDF, 488KB) January 2020 by Lindsey M. Greco and Maria L. Kraimer
• Using Practice Employment Tests to Improve Recruitment and Personnel Selection Outcomes for Organizations and Job Seekers (PDF, 158KB) September 2019 by Michael C. Campion, Emily D. Campion, and Michael A. Campion
• Wearable Bluetooth Sensors for Capturing Relational Variables and Temporal Variability in Relationships: A Construct Validation Study (PDF, 1695 KB) March 2019 by James G. Matusik, Ralph Heidl, John R. Hollenbeck, Andrew Yu, Hun Whee Lee, and Michael Howe

Feature Articles – Integrative Conceptual Reviews and Theoretical

• An Expanded Conceptualization of Line Managers' Involvement in Human Resource Management (PDF, 235KB) February 2020 by Rebecca R. Kehoe and Joo Hun Han
• Leading Diversity: Towards a Theory of Functional Leadership in Diverse Teams (PDF, 847 KB) January 23, 2020 Online First Publication by Astrid C. Homan, Seval Gündemir, Claudia Buengeler, and Gerben A. vanKleef
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Performance Management: A 30-Year Integrative Conceptual Review (PDF, 498KB) July 2019 by Deidra J. Schleicher, Heidi M. Baumann, David W. Sullivan, and Junhyok Yim

Research Reports - Empirical

• Improving the Measurement of Group-Level Constructs by Optimizing Between-Group Differentiation (PDF, 144KB) February 2019 by Paul D. Bliese, Mark A. Maltarich, Jonathan L. Hendricks, David A. Hofmann, and Amy B. Adler
• Shall We Serve the Dark Lords? A Meta-Analytic Review of Psychopathy and Leadership (PDF, 221 KB) January 2019 by Karen Landay, P. D. Harms, and Marcus Credé
• The Unintended Consequences of Maternity Leaves: How Agency Interventions Mitigate the Negative Effects of Longer Legislated Maternity Leaves (PDF, 156KB) October 2018 by Ivona Hideg, Anja Krstic, Raymond N. C. Trau, and Tanya Zarina

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Applied Research: Definition, Types & Examples

Every research project begins with a clear definition of the investigation’s purpose, which helps to identify the research procedure or approach used. In this sense, a researcher can conduct either basic or applied research.

This research focuses on answering specific questions to solve a specific problem. It tries to identify a solution to a cultural or organizational problem and is often a follow-up research plan for basic or pure research.

In this blog, we will explain the types of applied research and give some examples. But before that, we will go through what it is.

What is applied research?

Applied research is a non-systematic way of finding solutions to specific research problems or issues. These problems or issues can be on an individual, group, or societal level. It is called “non-systematic” because it goes straight to finding solutions.

It is often called a “scientific process” because it uses the available scientific tools and puts them to use to find answers.

Like in regular research, the researcher identifies the problem, makes a hypothesis, and then experiments to test it. It goes deeper into the findings of true or basic research.

LEARN ABOUT:   Research Process Steps

Types of applied research

This research has three types: 

• Evaluation research, 
• Research and Development, and 
• Action research. 

The short versions of each type are explained below:

• Evaluation research

Evaluation research is one type of applied research. It looks at the information on a research subject. This kind of research leads to objective research or helps people make better decisions sooner. Most of the time, evaluation research is used in business settings. 

The organization uses this research to figure out how the overhead costs can be cut down or cut down a lot.

• Research and development

Research and Development is the second type of applied research. Its main goal is to create or design new products, goods, or services that meet the needs of certain markets in society. It finds out what the needs of the market are. It focuses on finding new ways to improve products that already meet an organization’s needs.

• Action research

Action research is the third type of applied research. Action research is a way to learn about things that happen in everyday life and nature. Its goal is to find real-world solutions to business problems by pointing the business in the right direction.

LEARN ABOUT: Action Research

Examples of applied research

Applied study is used in many areas of study and research, from the sciences to the social sciences. We also talk about how it’s used in those fields and give some examples:

• Applied study in business

Applied study in business sectors is fully dependent on their products and services. It helps organizations understand market needs and trends, and then shape their products to fit customers.

Businesses benefit from This research because it allows them to detect gaps in their findings and obtain primary information on target market preferences.

• It can improve hiring.
• It improves work and policy.
• It identifies workplace skill gaps.
• Applied study in education

The applied study is used in the education field to test different ways of teaching and to find better ways of teaching and learning. Before implementing new education policies, they are tested to see how well they work, how they affect teaching, and how the classroom works.

Applied education research uses quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data from first-hand sources. This information is then looked at and interpreted differently to generate valuable results or conclusions.

LEARN ABOUT: Qualitative Interview

Most applied research in this field is done to develop and test different ways of doing things by trying them out in different situations. It is based on accurate observations and descriptions of the real world.

• Applied study to understand the reach of online learning initiatives.
• Applied study to promote teacher-student classroom engagement.
• Applied study on the new math program.
• Applied study in science

As already said, applied study is often called a scientific process because it uses the available scientific tools to find answers. It can be used in physics, microbiology, thermodynamics, and other fields.

• The applied study is put into practice to cure a disease.
• The applied study is put into practice to improve agricultural practices.
• The applied study is applied to testing new laboratory equipment.
• Applied study in psychology

Researchers use this research in psychology to figure out how people act at work, how HR works, and how the organization is growing and changing so they can come up with solutions.

It is used a lot in areas where researchers try to figure out how people think and then come up with solutions that fit their behavior best.

• Applied study to figure out new ways to deal with depression.
• Applied study to improve students’ grades by emphasizing practical Education.
• Applied study to create a plan to keep employees coming to work regularly.
• Applied study in health

This research is used to examine new drugs in the medical industry. It combines scientific knowledge and procedures with health experiences to produce evidence-based results.

• Applied study in heart surgery.
• Applied study to determine a drug’s efficacy.
• Applied study on a medicine’s adverse effects.

LEARN ABOUT: Theoretical Research

Applied research is an important way to research because it helps organizations find real-world solutions to specific problems while also increasing their output and productivity. In contrast to basic research, which focuses on making theories that explain things, applied research focuses on describing evidence to find solutions.

In the applied study, the researcher uses qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data, such as questionnaires, interviews, and observation methods. Conducting interviews is one of the examples of qualitative data in education . It helps the researcher collect real-world evidence, which is then tested depending on the type of applied research and the main focus.

At QuestionPro, we give researchers access to a library of long-term research insights and tools for collecting data, like our survey software. Go to InsightHub if you want to see a demo or learn more about it.

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• v.13(4); 2020 Dec

Overcoming Barriers to Applied Research: A Guide for Practitioners

Amber l. valentino.

Trumpet Behavioral Health, 6475 Sierra Lane, Dublin, CA 94568 USA

Jessica F. Juanico

The research-to-practice gap is evident in many disciplines. This gap can be seen through practitioners failing to integrate the latest research findings into their work, and through the implementation of procedures that do not have empirical support. As the number of behavior-analytic practitioners grows, this gap is likely to become more salient. One solution to closing the gap is for practitioners to conduct applied research. This survey study aimed to identify specific barriers that practitioners face when conducting research, to identify how valuable conducting research is to practitioners, and to make recommendations to support research productivity in practice. We report results from survey questions about applied research and provide practical recommendations for practitioners to overcome barriers and to begin conducting research during their clinical work.

Many professions have long acknowledged a gap between research and practice, including education (McIntyre, 2006 ), human resources (HR; Rynes, Colbert, & Brown, 2002 ), and psychology (Wandersman et al., 2008 ). This research-to-practice gap can be bidirectional, consisting of practitioners failing to implement the latest research findings into their practice, or practitioners implementing treatments that lack empirical backing. The former is most commonly acknowledged. For example, HR research suggests that the field should rely on intelligence and personality tests as predictors of employee performance; however, Rynes et al. ( 2002 ) found that HR practitioners do not rely on these tests, suggesting a gap between research and practice. The field of behavior analysis is no exception. This gap can be problematic, resulting in outdated practices and irrelevant research, and can consist of many components. These components may include practitioners failing to read the latest research articles or researchers failing to examine applied issues that will allow them to conduct research relevant to clinical practice. Kelley et al. ( 2015 ) attributed this gap to a large increase in the demand for services, resulting in an increase in the number of practitioners certified as Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), whereas the number of researchers in academic settings who are producing studies has remained very low. In the past 2 years, the number of BCBAs has grown exponentially. As of July 1, 2019, there were 34,471 BCBAs and 3,631 Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs; Behavior Analyst Certification Board [BACB], bacb.com , retrieved July 1, 2019).

Most studies on the research-to-practice gap have focused on how to encourage practitioners to more readily consume the research literature and implement findings. For example, Goodfellow ( 2004 ) proposed a structured journal club designed to reduce barriers to utilizing research in clinical settings to improve nursing students’ reliance on evidence-based practice. As an example, in the field of behavior analysis, Carr and Briggs ( 2010 ) proposed several resources in order for practitioners to make regular contact with the scholarly literature (e.g., organizing the bookmark panel on their web browser to minimize the effort associated with accessing important websites, creating a supportive social community). Efforts to support practitioners in consuming the literature should continue. However, another way to address the research-to-practice gap is to encourage practitioners to conduct research in the context of their clinical practice.

Kelley et al. ( 2015 ) proposed that for research to keep up with the issues faced in clinical practice, practitioners should readily conduct research during their daily clinical activities. To facilitate this productivity, Kelley et al. identified prolific practitioner-researchers in the field and interviewed them to create a list of recommendations. These recommendations included (a) arranging as much face-to-face contact with your peer researchers, collaborators, and research supervisees as possible; (b) using an economical, reliable, and safe method of data collection and, if possible, having staff members assist in data collection; (c) writing the results of your research collaboratively; (d) dedicating time to plan, conduct, or write the results of research on a regular basis (ideally each week); and (e) staying close to your project from the initial planning stage through article submission. The recommendations to practitioners by these authors are significant and represent the first of their kind in the field of behavior analysis; however, Kelley et al. noted that practitioners may still encounter barriers to conducting research, including limited resources, competing contingencies, the lack of a formal institutional review board, and rigorous methodology requirements that may not be feasible in clinical practice. Kelley et al. recommended that a next step in supporting practitioners to conduct research might be to survey practitioners “in a variety of applied organizations to inquire about the variables preventing research among employees and what could be done to increase research productivity among practitioners” (p. 206).

Therefore, the purposes of this study were to (a) identify specific barriers through a survey of practitioners in a wide variety of applied settings, (b) identify the value that practitioners place on conducting research, and (c) extend Kelley et al. ( 2015 ) by making additional recommendations for overcoming identified barriers and supporting research productivity among practitioners.

Participants

This study included BCaBAs, BCBAs, and doctoral-level BCBAs (BCBA-Ds) presently employed in a clinical setting. Participants were recruited through voluntary sampling (Remler & Van Ryzin, 2011 , p. 153). We recruited participants through the BACB’s e-mail service, which is an e-mail contact list of all registered certificants. The e-mail was sent directly through the BACB.

The number of individuals who received the invitation to participate is unknown, as data tracking was not available. Therefore, a corresponding response rate was not calculated. Only those responses that were fully completed were included in the data analysis. A total of 834 (99.88%) participants agreed to participate in the study. One (0.12%) individual chose not to participate. Of those who participated, 824 (99.52%) were board certified, 4 (0.48%) were not board certified and ended the survey, and 10 skipped this question. Of those certified, 46 (5.58%) were BCaBAs, 658 (79.85%) were BCBAs, and 120 (14.56%) were BCBA-Ds. The majority of practitioners reported being certified for 5 years or less (i.e., 31.50% between 0 and 2 years, and 35.16% between 3 and 5 years).

Nearly all practitioners (90.7%) reported that they serve individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A little over 85% of practitioners reported working with children 0–9 years old, and 71.9% reported working with adolescents 10–19 years old. Other practitioners reported working with individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (62.3%), adults (19+ years old; 34.4%), and other (8.5%). Finally, most practitioners indicated that they worked for an organization with less than 100 employees (i.e., 43.93% between 0 and 50, and 14.39% with 51–100 employees); however, many respondents also reported working for an organization with more than 100 employees (i.e., 16.34% between 101 and 250, 10.34% between 251 and 500, and 14.99% greater than 500).

Instrumentation

A survey was developed by the two authors, both with experience conducting research in applied settings. This survey was designed within SurveyMonkey™ and consisted of 18 questions. The first five questions were demographic or focused on practitioners’ work settings. We asked practitioners if they worked for a clinical organization. Those who responded yes moved on to complete the remainder of the survey. The survey stopped for those who responded no. The remaining 13 questions focused on experience with, motivation for, and barriers to conducting research. See Appendix 1 for the full survey.

Invitations with the web address link for the survey were distributed via e-mail listserv through the BACB™. We opened the survey on October 8, 2018, and closed it on December 19, 2018. The last response we received was on December 7, 2018. Thus, the survey was open for 73 days.

Characteristics of Organizations

Participants reported how their clinical organizations were organized, the research opportunities available to them, and how those opportunities influenced their job choice and commitment. These data are summarized in narrative form in what follows and are included in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Summary of Responses to Questions About Clinical Organizations

Opportunities provided by employers

Participants reported the specific types of opportunities for research provided by their employers. Many practitioners (79.28%) indicated their clinical organization provided them the opportunity to present at a conference. Other opportunities included research mentoring and supervision (71.05%), active research projects (54.28%), opportunities to write (50.33%), opportunities to publish (42.76%), regular research groups (27.96%), and writing projects (23.36%).

Research time provided by employers

We surveyed whether practitioners’ employers provided time for research outside of their clinical practice. A very high percentage (86.19%) of practitioners replied no. Of those who replied yes (13.81%), the number of hours their employers provided for research ranged from 0 to 10 (37.50%) to 20 or more hours (17.05%).

Institutional review boards / research review committees

We hypothesized that one barrier to conducting research outside of a university setting might be the absence of a structured institutional review board (IRB) or research review committee (RRC). Thus, practitioners reported whether their organization had an internal structure to support the ethical review of research projects. The majority of practitioners (71.59%) indicated they did not have this resource, and 28.41% indicated they did.

Research impact on long-term commitment to clinical organizations

One survey question examined the extent to which the opportunity to conduct research influenced a practitioner’s long-term commitment to an organization. The majority (62.83%) indicated that the opportunity did influence their long-term commitment, and 15.47% indicated it did not; 22.15% responded that they were indifferent about research opportunities.

Research impact on job choice

Another question asked whether the opportunity to conduct research had influenced practitioners to accept a position. Some practitioners indicated the opportunity to conduct research did influence their job choice (34.80%), whereas 65.20% indicated that the opportunity to conduct research had never influenced their job choice.

Characteristics of Respondents (Practitioners)

Participants also answered questions related to the interests, values, and barriers of practitioners. These data are summarized in narrative form in what follows and are included in Table ​ Table2 2 .

Summary of Responses to Questions About Practitioners

Respondents’ involvement in research

To obtain data on practitioners’ current involvement in research, participants reported whether they had conducted research in their clinical organization and the type of research they conducted. The majority (68.17%) indicated they had not participated in research, and 31.83% indicated they had. Practitioners who indicated they had not conducted research moved on to the next main question (Question 12). Practitioners who indicated they had conducted research were asked four additional questions about the type of research they conducted. Of the practitioners who participated in research, most had presented at a conference (71.03%). About one third of practitioners had published research (30.95%), some had time provided for research (34.95%), and some had compensation for conducting research (34.63%).

Respondents’ interest in research opportunities

Practitioners reported their interest in research—that is, if they were interested in participating in research, and if so, in what way. The majority of practitioners indicated they were interested in conducting research, with 69.63% stating they would like to present at a conference, and 71.86% stating they would like to publish articles.

Barriers preventing research

Our next question inquired about the primary barrier that kept practitioners from conducting research. Nearly half of all practitioners (47.58%) indicated a lack of time as the primary barrier. This barrier was followed by a lack of research mentorship available (12.58%) and a lack of opportunity (11.94%). Other barriers were noted by less than 10% of practitioners and included lack of interest (6.13%), lack of research community (5.32%), lack of knowledge (3.71%), lack of appropriate protections such as an IRB (3.39%), fear of making a mistake (1.29%), lack of research ideas (1.29%), and other (6.77%).

Practitioners identified the second barrier, and they also identified a lack of time (17.24%), followed by a lack of research community (15.93%) and a lack of opportunity (15.93%). The remaining secondary barriers included the same barriers identified as primary (e.g., fear of making a mistake), with approximately the same percentage of people identifying those as secondary barriers (i.e., 7.55%). Practitioners also had the opportunity to identify any other remaining barriers. These included competing contingencies (26.79%), lack of a research leader (13.21%), lack of support (12.14%), funding (7.86%), setting constraints (7.50%), trained staff/knowledge (5.71%), population constraints (4.64%), parent consent (3.57%), lack of appropriate protections (3.21%), lack of opportunities (1.79%), lack of access to a literature database (1.07%), personal barriers (1.07%), and new organizations (0.71%), and some noted no other barriers existed (10.71%). We also asked practitioners a simple question: Would you conduct research if no barriers existed? Most (83.87%) responded yes, and 7.90% responded no. The remaining practitioners (8.23%) indicated that no barriers existed.

Importance of conducting research

To gauge the overall value practitioners placed on conducting research, we asked one final question: How important is conducting research to you? Response options were along a 5-point Likert scale. The highest percentage of practitioners indicated it was important (36.38%), followed by somewhat important (34.26%), then very important (19.58%), and, finally, not at all important (9.79%).

Most practitioners indicated that conducting research is important on some level, and they reported interest in publishing and presenting at conferences. Yet the majority had never conducted research in their work settings, and 14% of employers offered time to participate in research activities. Of the percentage that had participated in research, presenting at a conference was the most common experience. Possibly, many practitioners presented a study conducted at their place of employment that they may have had a small role or no role in, or presented generally about their organization at conferences, as a lower number of practitioners indicated they had actually participated in active research projects. These data suggest that our practitioner workforce is eager to participate and contribute, but despite this motivation, they have been unable to do so, and when they do, those experiences are limited.

There are many barriers that keep practitioners from conducting research, such as competing contingencies. If these barriers did not exist, an overwhelming majority of practitioners would conduct research in their clinical settings. The profile of individuals sampled in this survey is representative of the primary workforce within the field of applied behavior analysis: early career, certified individuals working for small organizations, specializing in the treatment of young children with ASD. This profile lends itself well to the integration of research into practice for several reasons. First, there are several research questions within the ASD population, across a variety of areas, that remain unanswered. Second, individuals with ASD have a variety of presenting symptoms, and as such, a variety of research questions are likely to be applicable. Third, early career behavior analysts, having just completed degree requirements, will be freshly familiar with experimental design, research processes, and unanswered questions in the literature. An early career behavior analyst might, for example, decide to extend his or her capstone project or master’s thesis in an applied setting within the first year or two of graduation. In the following sections, we discuss the primary barriers that practitioners identified and propose recommendations to overcome them. All recommendations provided in this article can be found in Appendix 2 .

Barrier 1: Lack of Access to an IRB/RRC

One large barrier that we hypothesized would prevent research in applied settings was a lack of access to an IRB or RRC. Indeed, 71.59% of practitioners noted this as a barrier. Luckily, our field has offered recent guidance on this topic. The present article offered concrete guidelines for establishing and maintaining an RRC within a human-services organization. Practitioners wishing to conduct research at their place of employment can follow the guidance in this article and successfully set up their own RRC. Some of these recommendations include recruiting external members to fulfill various roles and clear communication from the RRC chair to the organization about its purpose and the research process. The authors in the LeBlanc study also offer several resources for organizations to establish operational procedures and maintain day-to-day operations.

Barrier 2: Lack of Time

In addition to a lack of an IRB or RRC, practitioners noted several barriers they would need to overcome to conduct research in their work settings. The first and most common barrier was a lack of time. A lack of time can be a major barrier for any initiative, especially for BCBAs working in the ASD industry, as there are many competing contingencies. Some of these competing contingencies include a lack of compensation for research, necessary clinical activities (e.g., report writing), supervision responsibilities (e.g., overlapping sessions and providing feedback to a Registered Behavior Technician), and leadership responsibilities (e.g., meetings, responding to e-mail). However, a lack of time as a barrier can be overcome, even with these competing contingencies.

Paul Silvia, in his book How to Write a Lot (2017), dedicated an entire chapter to barriers that academics face to writing and publishing. Interestingly, the first he identified is a lack of time. His recommendations are ones that the authors of this article have followed over the years, which has resulted in research productivity within a clinical setting. Silvia recommended allotting time to write, instead of “finding” it, and creating a writing schedule and sticking to it ( really sticking to it). Writing time should be treated like a meeting that cannot and does not get canceled. The primary author of this article began implementing an early morning waking schedule and wrote from 4:30 a.m. to at least 6:00 a.m., 5 days per week, for approximately 18 months. Although it took some initial training to transition to this schedule, the schedule resulted in a much higher level of productivity than her previous schedule of specifying “writing days” a few times per month. Although this schedule may not be feasible for everyone, the idea of setting aside time, regardless of what time, is of utmost importance. As Silvia noted, the key to this type of productivity is regularity, choosing small goals that can be accomplished during the writing time, and maintaining a master task analysis of tasks that need to be completed on various projects. The second author of this article breaks down all writing tasks into small, manageable goals and graphs the cumulative number of tasks completed weekly. For example, when writing a manuscript, she divides the manuscript into different tasks (e.g., completing data analysis, formatting graphs, writing results for Participant 1). When breaking the manuscript into smaller tasks, the goal of writing and completing a manuscript seems more feasible. Finally, Silvia asserted that it is also imperative to remove distractions—if an individual carves out writing time and then gets engrossed in managing their e-mail account or reviewing social media content, the writing time will not be productive.

Another time-related barrier that practitioners likely face is when to physically collect data with participants. Students may be accustomed to collecting data during very discrete times—participants may come into a center or research facility on a regular schedule for the allotted time to participate. This is unlikely in applied work. Thus, we recommend that applied research questions be integrated into clinical practice. If the question is truly applied, then data collection can easily be integrated into existing clinical activities, such as overlaps and observations. This minimizes the need to carve out extra time, other than organizing, writing, and editing, which can be accomplished with the aforementioned strategies. Having an RRC is of utmost importance to ensure projects are truly applied and can be conducted during clinical service delivery. This arrangement is indeed possible and is how the authors of this article have conducted most of their research involving human participants within a large clinical organization.

Barrier 3: Lack of Research Mentorship and Lack of Opportunity

The next primary barriers reported were a lack of research mentorship and a lack of opportunity. It is quite possible that a BCBA might find him- or herself as the most senior or experienced individual in the organization but may not feel equipped to conduct research independently.

If no internal mentor can be identified, we recommend reaching out to mentors in the field. First, conduct literature searches on topics of interest and find out who are well published in that area. Next, send them an e-mail and ask if they would be willing to meet with you at a conference or schedule a call for guidance. Most researchers in our field will be excited to respond and provide that guidance and their expertise. You can also consider reaching out to academics to ask if they have any research opportunities available. Many researchers in academic settings may have a very small participant pool from which to collect data. Thus, they may be willing to mentor you in exchange for collecting data on participants at your organization. Finally, the project would need to be approved by your organization’s RRC and the university’s IRB, but this arrangement is quite feasible. In fact, we have had several of these partnerships over the years, which has resulted in great learning opportunities and research publications (e.g., Heinicke et al., 2016 ). Access to participants and your willingness to collect data are often very appealing motivators in exchange for some research guidance, mentoring, and support. This may also increase the number of research opportunities available.

Barrier 4: Lack of a Research Community

This is a very legitimate barrier that practitioners may face. Particularly in a small organization, it may be difficult to identify others who are interested in or supportive of research efforts.

The main way to overcome this barrier is by creating your own community. You may start small with a collaborative project with a university and begin to integrate people into the project. The results of this study suggest that you are highly likely to have a community of practitioners interested in research that may experience the same barriers you do, even if they are not directly employed by the same organization. Thus, beginning to create a group of people who are supportive of research efforts and interested in learning could create a research culture where there had been none before. If your organization can support it, arrange for a volunteer research lab. It will be important, in most organizations, for individuals to fully understand the volunteer nature of the activity and to manage these extra tasks outside of their normal work responsibilities. However, many individuals might be willing to meet during off-hours to learn and contribute to the literature. Finally, if it is not possible to create this culture given your current work arrangement, explore other work settings that have an existing research culture and support.

Overcoming these barriers is clearly important, because nearly all practitioners indicated that they would conduct research if no barriers existed. Our research literature would grow significantly if even half of the practitioners currently not publishing would begin to publish. This increase in contributions to the literature would accelerate our knowledge at a rapid pace and help answer the many unanswered applied questions that currently exist and perhaps inform more basic and translational or bridge research (Carr, Coriaty, & Dozier, 2000 ).

With the strong desire to conduct research, we wondered how much this desire would impact practitioners’ long-term commitment to an organization, and most practitioners indicated it did influence their commitment. This type of response may mean that practitioners will transition to a new company if their organization does not afford them opportunities to conduct research, if they can find another organization that does. If the opportunity to conduct research has a strong influence over this decision, practitioners may wish to try to create opportunities at their organization or locate places of employment that do offer research opportunities. Employers may creatively seek ways to provide research opportunities to their workforce to positively impact recruitment and long-term retention. Although at first glance, it may seem to be a cost to employers in the form of nonbillable time, as outlined in this article, research can be integrated into clinical activities, and the other infrastructure (e.g., RRC) is of little to no cost to the organization. Interestingly, fewer individuals in our survey indicated that the opportunity to conduct research did not historically influence their decision whether to accept a position. This response could be indicative of the small number of organizations that offer research opportunities. Thus, the opportunity may not have influenced most because it likely did not exist among the organizations individuals were deciding among.

To conclude, we would like to make some other recommendations that we believe will help practitioners become productive researchers in applied settings. These recommendations are based on the authors’ own experiences and observations of others who have been productive research practitioners.

Expand Your Research Opportunities

Thus far, we have primarily discussed collecting data in the context of clinical work and conducting data-based research studies. Although this is a great category of research, practitioners should expand their array of options for contributing. For example, many journals have outlets for brief reviews, treatment models, and recommended practice guidelines. There are excellent models in the literature of these types of contributions, many of which were written by practitioners working in the field (see Aguirre, Valentino, & LeBlanc, 2016 , for an example of a literature review; Geiger, Carr, & LeBlanc, 2010 , for an example of a treatment model; and Sellers, Valentino, & LeBlanc, 2016 , for an example of recommended practice guidelines). Adding this kind of research to your agenda as a supplement to data-based studies or as a stand-alone focus can be helpful because it allows you the flexibility to work on it during your own time. You are not limited by participant availability, times for data collection, or participant dropout. Although this type of writing certainly requires a time commitment, practice, and focus, with the appropriate writing schedule and realistic goals, it absolutely can be accomplished.

Identify Clinical Problems and Ask Questions That Will Help You Solve Those Problems

Many of the problems that practitioners face in their daily clinical activities would make excellent research questions. For example, a client who has mastered mands for information using a variety of wh– forms but often makes errors—saying “where” when he should have said “when”—might lead a practitioner to ask the question “I wonder if there is a procedure I can implement to help him discriminate across establishing operations?” As another example, you might notice that when teaching intraverbal behavior and presenting a discriminative stimulus and an echoic prompt, a client repeats both the discriminative stimulus and the response (this clinical problem occurred for the first author and was answered in Valentino, Shillingsburg, Conine, & Powell, 2012 ). When you ask those questions, go to the literature and determine if there is existing literature that will give you the answer. If there is not a clear answer in the literature, conduct the study. If some literature exists, replicate and extend that literature. If you are a supervisor, help your supervisees see their clinical problems as areas for investigation. Several years ago, the primary author was consulting on a case with the primary referral concern being pace of eating. Her mentor helped her see this as an extension of the existing literature on the topic of pace of behavior, and a study was ultimately published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis on the case (Valentino, LeBlanc, & Raetz, 2018 ). What seemed to be a simple clinical consultation turned into a unique way to extend the literature while very effectively addressing the client’s primary clinical concern.

View Research in Practice as Different From Controlled Lab Work

Practitioners who have recently entered the workforce may have a very strict idea about how research should be conducted. This likely stems from experiences with master’s theses in graduate school, which often need to be very controlled and are focused on being an ideal learning opportunity for the student. In clinical practice, many variables influence data collection, participant enrollment, and completion. The data you collect may not be collected under perfectly controlled conditions. This does not mean the data are “bad” or cannot be used. It simply means you will need to control as many variables as you can, and for those you cannot control, you will need to describe the conditions for your readers. In many ways, research focuses on the story you tell about the data, and if the data demonstrate experimental control, it is up to you to describe the data in an interesting way that contributes to the literature. There will naturally be variability, and you will need to describe that variability, not avoid it or throw away a data set because it occurred. As an example, Veazey, Valentino, Low, McElroy, and LeBlanc ( 2016 ) published an article on teaching feminine care skills to females with ASD. There were several procedural changes that occurred over the course of that study, as the authors needed to be very flexible in their clinical approach. However, the last research article published on this topic had been published over 30 years ago, and the authors knew what they had done would be helpful to the behavior-analytic community. The contribution was truly in the writing and the story about the updated procedures, the connection to autonomy and independence for this population, and the unique modifications the authors made to ensure success.

When conducting research as part of your clinical practice, you will inevitably have incomplete data sets. Families may relocate unexpectedly mid-data collection, or you might find that the procedure was implemented incorrectly by a team member or that the participant no longer meets the criteria for the study because the skill developed more quickly than you intended and it is no longer a clinical need. These are natural parts of clinical service delivery. The good news is that you do not have a timeline. You are not trying to graduate by a specific date or turn in a paper by a deadline. Research takes time, and you have that time. Be patient and continue to collect data with other participants who meet the criteria, or if the question does not apply to any of your clients, ask a different question.

To conclude, practitioners are motivated to conduct research during practice. This motivation, however, is met with some barriers. This article offered solutions to some of the common barriers acknowledged. It is our hope that practitioners wishing to conduct applied research will use this article as a resource and source of motivation to begin doing so. It is also our job as a behavior-analytic community to support practitioners in their research endeavors. Organizations that employ behavior analysts should consider ways to allow opportunities for research, and senior leaders in our field should determine ways to mentor and support practitioners. Our field will greatly benefit from these contributions in the form of answers to applied questions, a more research-engaged and connected practitioner group, and overall long-term career satisfaction. Importantly, these efforts are likely to bridge the research-to-practice gap that exists in our field.

Survey of BCBAs’ Research Practices in Applied Settings

Introduction.

Amber Valentino and Jessica Juanico of Trumpet Behavioral Health invite you to participate in a research study. The purpose of this study is to gather information regarding research activities in applied settings. This form includes detailed information about the study to help you decide whether to participate. Please read it carefully and be sure you do not have any questions before you agree to participate.

You will complete a short survey about applied research. The survey is anonymous and it should take you less than 20 min to complete.

Risks and Benefits

There are minimal risks to participating in this survey study. Possible risks include discomfort completing a questionnaire that asks you about your experiences. Loss of confidentiality is also a risk in most research projects. To minimize those risks, no identifying information will be collected. If you have had a bad research-related experience, please contact the principal investigator of this study right away at [email protected]. There is no direct benefit to you for your participation in this research study. This study will help the researchers learn more about the barriers to and opportunities for practitioners to conduct research in applied settings.

Confidentiality

Every effort will be made to keep the information you provide as part of this study confidential. Your information will be collected through SurveyMonkey™, which will keep your responses confidential. The information collected in SurveyMonkey™ will be securely stored in a restricted-access folder on Box.com , an encrypted, cloud-based storage system.

Voluntary participation and withdrawal

Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. If you agree to participate now and change your mind later, you may withdraw at any time by not completing the questionnaire. If you choose to withdraw after you have already submitted the survey, withdrawal will not be possible as the questionnaire is anonymous. The research review committee (RRC) at Trumpet Behavioral Health has reviewed and approved this study. If you have questions about the research study itself, please contact the principal investigator at [email protected].

Informed consent

Informed consent will be obtained on the subsequent page. Please be sure to retain a copy of this form for your records; you can save or print the letter before completing the survey.

• I understand my participation is voluntary, all responses will be kept confidential, and I AGREE to participate.
• I choose not to participate. (Logic ➔ End of survey)
• No (Logic ➔ End of survey)
• 0–2 years
• 3–5 years
• 6–9 years
• Children (0–9 years old)
• Adolescents (10–19 years old)
• Adults (19+ years old)
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Intellectual and developmental disabilities
• Other (please specify)
• 0–50 employees
• 51–100 employees
• 101–250 employees
• 251–500 employees
• 501+ employees
• No (Logic ➔ Question 12)
• No (Logic ➔ Question 14)
• Research mentoring/supervision
• Regular research groups
• Active research projects for employees to participate
• Writing projects for employees to join
• Opportunities to present at conferences
• Opportunities to write
• Opportunities to publish
• No (Logic ➔ Question 16)
• How much time does your organization provide its employees to conduct research (please report in hours per month)?
• Lack of time
• Lack of knowledge
• Lack of interest
• Lack of research community
• Lack of appropriate protections (e.g., IRB)
• Fear of making a mistake
• Lack of research mentorship available
• Lack of research ideas
• Lack of opportunity
• List any other barriers associated with conducting research in your applied setting.
• N/A (I already conduct research and there are no barriers to me doing so.)
• Indifferent
• Yes, it has influenced me to accept or not accept a position.
• No, opportunities for research have never influenced job choice.
• Very important
• Somewhat important

Summary of Recommendations

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards (however, please note that given the discussion status of this article, it did not involve any human participants).

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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• 10 Research Question Examples to Guide Your Research Project

10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project

Published on October 30, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on October 19, 2023.

The research question is one of the most important parts of your research paper , thesis or dissertation . It’s important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started.

The exact form of your question will depend on a few things, such as the length of your project, the type of research you’re conducting, the topic , and the research problem . However, all research questions should be focused, specific, and relevant to a timely social or scholarly issue.

Once you’ve read our guide on how to write a research question , you can use these examples to craft your own.

Note that the design of your research question can depend on what method you are pursuing. Here are a few options for qualitative, quantitative, and statistical research questions.

Other interesting articles

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

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Anthropology Research Paper

This sample applied anthropology research paper features: 6200 words (approx. 20 pages), an outline, and a bibliography with 33 sources. Browse other research paper examples for more inspiration. If you need a thorough research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help. This is how your paper can get an A! Feel free to contact our writing service for professional assistance. We offer high-quality assignments for reasonable rates.

Applied Anthropology Research Paper

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The paper commences with a brief definition of applied anthropology in both its broader and more restrictive senses. What follows then is an examination of the origins of applied anthropology within the matrix of anthropology, generally, in the 19th century. The early history of the discipline through the post–World War II, or mid-20th century, era is explored in the next section. The mid-20th-century era was dominated by three subjects: the Fox Project, the Peru Vicos Project, and Project Camelot, which is treated separately. The section on the later 20th century leads into applied anthropology today, which is followed by a section on areas for future research.

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What Is Applied Anthropology?

Origins of applied anthropology, early history, the fox project, project camelot, late 20th century, programs in applied anthropology, anthropologists and the military, forensic anthropology, ethnic cleansing, and political dissidents, future directions.

• Bibliography

Applied anthropology, in its broader sense, is distinguished primarily from academic anthropology as anthropological methods and data put to use outside of the classroom. This is not to say that all anthropological methods and data put to use outside of the classroom is applied anthropology; field research also is anthropological methods and data put to use outside of the classroom, but it can be used for academic purposes, as well as for practical application. Applied anthropology is used to solve practical problems outside of the academic world, and it has appeared under such names as action anthropology, development anthropology, practicing anthropology, and advocacy anthropology among others.

In its narrower sense, applied anthropology is distinguished from practicing anthropology. Practicing anthropology is the application of anthropology strictly outside of academia by nonacademics; applied anthropology can be practiced outside of academia or within academia by academics. To some, the differences are considered to be minimal, but to others they are of great importance.

Early in the 19th century, anthropology was a religious philosophy that examined how to view the place of humans in the cosmos. This began to change by the mid-19th century, and people who were to become the founders of what is called anthropology today began to look at the more earthly nature of humanity. One of these individuals was Lewis Henry Morgan. Morgan, who was an attorney, began to work with the Iroquois in the 1840s on legal issues involving railroad right of ways. This may have been one of the first, if not the first, application of the nascent but as yet still inchoate discipline.

Across the Atlantic, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, the “father of anthropology” who defined “culture,” considered anthropology to be a “policy science” that should be implemented to ameliorate the problems of humanity. James Hunt, who founded the Anthropological Society of London, began to use the term practical anthropology by the 1860s, and in 1869, the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (this was later to be titled the Royal Anthropological Institute) was formed.

In North America, the federal government formed the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) under John Wesley Powell in order to perform research that was intended to guide government policy toward Native Americans, and in 1879, Powell dispatched Frank Hamilton Cushing to the Zuñi pueblo to perform some of the first anthropological field research. By 1895, the BAE had hired anthropologist James Mooney to research a revitalization movement, the ghost dance. It also was in the 1890s that Franz Boas, the “father of American anthropology,” worked outside of academia with the Chicago Field Museum.

Boas developed a lifelong hatred of racism arising from anti-Semitic experiences he had had in school in Germany. This led him to attempt to dispel the prevailing racist notions of the day in anthropology. From 1910 to 1913, Boas applied anthropometry to disprove a basic racist assumption: Cranial shape was a factor of race. To accomplish this, he measured the heads of Jewish immigrants in New York City ghettos. Presumably, they were members of the dolichocephalic (longheaded) Mediterranean race, and indeed, the immigrants tended to fit that pattern. However, their children, born in America, were members of the brachicephalic (roundheaded) Alpine race. Apparently, they had changed race within one generation of having moved to America. Boas explained this anomaly as being the product of different diets between the parents and their children during their growth years and not the result of race at all.

Boas’s first PhD student, Alfred Louis Kroeber, and Kroeber’s students spent the first two decades of the 20th century conducting “salvage ethnology” to preserve cultures that were, or already had, become extinct. The most famous of these cases, both within and outside of anthropology, is the story of Ishi, the last member of the California Yahi tribe, whom Kroeber brought to Berkeley to serve as the key respondent from a vanished people. In 1919, Kroeber applied anthropological techniques to discover the rapprochement between fashion and economic cycles in his hem-length study. He demonstrated that one could determine (and perhaps predict) economic cycles by the rise or fall of women’s dress and skirt lengths. The 1920s also found Margaret Mead (1928/1973) making recommendations on sex education to the American educational establishment in the last two chapters of her doctoral dissertation, published as Coming of Age in Samoa.

In Europe, it was common during this time for anthropologists to seek employment in colonial governments: Anthropologists from the Netherlands were employed by their government to provide ethnographic data on its Indonesian colony; Northcote Thomas used anthropology to aid in administrating the British colony in Nigeria; and Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown served as director of education on Tonga. Somewhat later, in the 1930s, Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1969), in the employment of the government of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, spent several research periods among the Nuer to determine why they did not consider it necessary to uphold their treaty with the British government, among other projects. Also in the 1930s, Radcliffe-Brown first used the term applied anthropology in the article “Anthropology as Public Service and Malinowski’s Contribution to It” (although the term already had appeared in 1906 in a degree program at Oxford). Bronislaw Malinowski himself, had coined the term practicing anthropology for nonacademic anthropology.

In 1932, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed the anthropologist John Collier to Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Collier then employed fellow anthropologists Julian Steward, Clyde Kluckhohn, and others in the applied anthropology office to investigate Native American cultures and to counsel the BIA in regard to the Indian Reorganization Act. The anthropologists served as intermediaries between the BIA and Native Americans during the drawing of tribal constitutions and charters. Also in the 1930s, Edward Sapir’s student, Benjamin Lee Whorf, applied anthropological linguists to the analysis of fire insurance investigations, and anthropologist W. Lloyd Warner was hired by the Western Electric Company to study worker productivity in its bank-wiring facility. Warner employed qualitative ethnographic techniques, such as participant observation and informal interviewing, that previously had been used in nonindustrial, non-Western societies in one of the first applications of “industrial anthropology.”

The 1940s brought about the efflorescence of the field with the founding of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) by Margaret Mead, Conrad Arensberg, and Eliot Chapple. They published the journal Applied Anthropology to counter what they saw as academic bias against practical, nontheoretical work. In 1949, the name of the journal was changed to Human Organization, and the SfAA code of ethics was created. Despite this, Melville Herskovits taught in the late 1940s that applied anthropology was racist and should not be practiced, according to one of his former students.

Today, a variety of organizations specialize in applied anthropology. The Consortium of Practicing and Applied Anthropology Programs (COPAA), chaired by Linda A. Bennett of the University of Memphis, lists and gives a brief description of some of these organizations on its Web site, including the COPAA, the SfAA, and the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology within the American Anthropological Association.

The COPAA also lists regional organizations, which include the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists; the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology; the Chicago Association for Practicing Anthropologists; the Sun Coast Organization of Practicing Anthropologists; the California Alliance of Local Practitioner Organizations that embraces the Southern California Applied Anthropology Network, the Bay Area Association of Practicing Anthropologists, and the Central Valley Applied Anthropology Network; and the Mid-South Association of Professional Anthropologists. It was during World War II that Margaret Mead headed a group of anthropologists who served in the Office of Strategic Services. In addition to Mead, Ruth Benedict, Ralph Linton, Julian Steward, and Clyde Kluckhohn, among others (including such interdisciplinary notables as Erik Erikson), worked on the Committee on Food Habits, the Culture at a Distance national character project, the War Relocation Authority, and others, in order to aid in the U.S. war effort. A description of their work and methods was published (Mead & Rhoda, 1949) after the war as The Study of Culture at a Distance. Following the war, anthropologists also worked for the U.S. Pacific protectorates’ administrations.

Mid-20th Century

In the late 1940s, Sol Tax of the University of Chicago wanted to develop a program that would give field experience to anthropology students. To do this, he began the Fox Project in 1948 to look into social organization and leadership in the Fox/Tama settlement, which was facing acculturative pressures from the neighboring Euro-American community. Although they tried to become involved in the amelioration of the acculturative process, they had no authority to do so. Thus, they developed a theoretical agenda that became known as “action anthropology.” In 1953, the group consulted with the Fox project and developed a framework for action that was funded by a private foundation. University of Iowa students joined the University of Chicago group, and together they created the Fox Indian Educational Program and began the Tama Indian Crafts industry.

About the time that the Fox project was nearing its completion in 1952, Edward Spicer’s book, Human Problems in Technological Change, was published. That same year Allen Holmberg began Cornell University’s 14-year experiment: the “Peru Vicos Project.” Cornell University had rented Vicos, a feudal estate in Peru, as a living laboratory to study social engineering on the Quechua-speaking peasantry, to test theories of modernization, and to develop models for community advocacy and culture brokering.

Project Camelot had the potential to be a low point in the application of anthropology in the late 20th century. In December 1964, the Office of the Director of the Special Operations Research Office of the American University in Washington, D.C., announced a new program to be funded by the army and the Department of Defense. The program extensively would employ anthropological fieldworkers in government research for 3 to 4 years. In theory, it was a project that was intended to develop a systems model that would enable the prediction of social changes that in turn could develop into political movements in third world nations that might threaten the United States—specifically in Latin American countries (where a field office was planned) but with plans to expand globally. Its objectives were to formulate means to predict civil wars and revolutions; to identify means to prevent civil wars, insurgency, and counterinsurgency movements in particular societies; and to develop a system of field methods to collect the information to accomplish the two previous objectives. The budget was expected to be in the $1.5 million range annually.

Some anthropologists feared that applying anthropology to aid Latin American government’s repression of political movements was unethical and would hinder development of societies in those countries. A more horrific potential outcome to the field ethnographers was the possible executions of their field respondents. In response to the outcry from the social science community, Project Camelot was cancelled in July 1965.

Nonetheless, not all social scientists found Project Camelot to be totally objectionable. Beyond the satisfaction of the obvious and never-ending quest for research funding, which it would have provided, albeit from sources that are suspect to many in the academic community, there is the less obvious appeal of ethnography finally having some input into government international policy, something that had been called for over decades. Likewise, many anthropologists in that era had gotten their starts in the military by having had their first international experiences during the second World War and their educations financed by the government issue, or GI, Bill. Rather, it was the possible outcomes of their research that convinced the community to object to Project Camelot.

Also in the 1960s, medical anthropologists working with the Foré tribe of New Guinea traced the origins of a deadly neurological disease, kuru, to cannibalism by using traditional qualitative techniques, such as collecting life histories; Margaret Mead testified before Congress on birth control and marijuana, and she coined the term generation gap to describe a global phenomenon that had never occurred previously in human history; Jules Henry’s Culture Against Man described the Orwellian nature of popular advertising in American society; Jomo Kenyatta applied his PhD in anthropology from the London School of Economics under Malinowski to running the government of Kenya, with its diverse ethnic makeup, as its first president under the slogan Harambe, or “let us pull together” in Kiswahili. Oscar Lewis conducted his “family life histories” in Mexico City ( The Children of Sanchez ) and New York ( La Vida ) and described the poor as living in a selfperpetuating “culture of poverty.” Although this was criticized widely as an attempt to blame the poor for their condition, it also could be said that Lewis was acknowledging the wisdom of people who lived on the edge and their ability to survive and fully exploit their economic niches.

James P. Spradley conducted a Herculean application of ethnoscience to “tramp” culture in Seattle in the 1960s to determine the emic structure of the society in order to make recommendations for improved treatments to social workers, police, psychiatrists, and alcohol treatment centers. It was published as You Owe Yourself a Drunk: An Ethnography of Urban Nomads in 1970. In 1969, George Foster wrote the first textbook on development and change agency, Applied Anthropology, in which he cited changes in human behavior as a primary goal in order to solve social, economic, and technological problems. He followed this up in 1973 with Traditional Societies and Technological Change.

In 1974, the University of South Florida began the first master of arts degree program to focus specifically on training students for careers in applied anthropology. The options available to those students form a wide range of topics that define applied anthropology. Among them are archaeology, Cultural Resource Management, economic development, educational anthropology, immigration, medical anthropology, race, gender, ethnicity, and urban policy and community development. Among the reasons for such theoretical breadth is the realization that many master of arts students do not choose to pursue a doctor of philosophy degree, and this curriculum, then, qualifies them to work in specialized professions outside of academia. The reader will note that work outside of academia is known as practicing anthropology, and in 1978 the University of South Florida first published the journal Practicing Anthropology. Graduate programs in applied anthropology are becoming more widespread in the United States since that time; for example, the master’s program in applied anthropology at California State University, Long Beach, has three program options: communities/ organizations, health, and education. Northern Kentucky University’s anthropology program is long known for its award-winning Web site with information on where undergraduate anthropology majors, who cannot or do not choose to attend graduate programs, can find jobs outside of academia; currently, it is in the process of developing a master’s program in applied anthropology.

COPAA lists member programs on its Web site for those interested in pursuing a career in applied anthropology. The Web site notes that there are other programs that are not currently COPAA members. Among the universities in consortium are the University of Alaska, Anchorage; American University; University of Arizona; California State University, East Bay; California State University, Long Beach; University of Florida, Gainesville; The George Washington University; University of Georgia; Georgia State University; Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis; University of Kentucky; University of Maryland; University of Memphis; Mississippi State University; Montclair State University; University of North Carolina at Greensboro; University of North Texas; Northern Arizona University; Oregon State University; Santa Clara University; San Jose State University; the University of South Florida; the University of Texas at San Antonio; and Wayne State University.

The first doctoral program in applied anthropology was begun at the University of South Florida (USF) in 1984. Although the master of arts curriculum had been intended for nonacademic professions, the PhD curriculum trained students for university careers, as well as for practicing anthropology. USF’s Center for Applied Anthropology combines these two objectives in ventures such as the Human Services Information System database and the Alliance for Applied Research in Education and Anthropology.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Napoleon Chagnon and James Neel conducted genetics research for the American Atomic Energy Commission in an ethnographic setting. Chagnon was the ethnographer, and Neel was the geneticist. Their work was designed to determine the effects of the forces of evolution (such as the founder effect) on small populations in order to determine how genes might affect survival following a nuclear destruction of modern civilization. Their research took them to the Orinoco River basin in southeastern Venezuela where they established contact and conducted research among the Yanomamo, an isolated, horticultural, tribal society. Out of this research came Chagnon’s ethnography, The Yanomamo: The Fierce People. From its very early days, the project was heavily documented on film, and their classic documentary, The Yanomamo: A Multidisciplinary Study, became a standard in both cultural and physical anthropology classrooms. In the film, Chagnon and Neal become aware of a measles epidemic sweeping up the Orinoco Basin toward the Yanomamo. They acquire a vaccine that contains a weakened strain of the live virus and conduct mass inoculations of the Yanomamo against measles.

Although their work was met with criticism from the outset, none was quite as virulent as the later criticism contained in Patrick Tierney’s 2000 book, Darkness in El Dorado, and its aftermath. Tierney claimed that Chagnon and Neel had been conducting Josef Mengele-like genetics experiments on the Yanomamo by injecting them with the live measles virus to see who would live and who would die—not, as shown in the documentary, to protect them from an epidemic. The author of this chapter recalls sweeping condemnations of Chagnon and Neel from the anthropological community on several Internet electronic mailing lists originating throughout the United States at that time based on Darkness in El Dorado— although the book had not yet been released. By that time, Neel was dead, and although Chagnon was retired, he filed a lawsuit against Tierney in which he and Neel eventually were vindicated. Currently, calls are being made in anthropology to disband the “El Dorado Task Force” set up to investigate this case.

In the 1980s, Philippe Bourgois conducted field research among Hispanic crack (“rock” cocaine, which is smoked) dealers in the Harlem area of New York. This was not an update of Elliott Liebow’s Tally’s Corner nor of Oscar Lewis’s La Vida. Rather, it is what Bourgois refers to as a “culture of terror” that exploits an underground economy. Bourgois argues that this renders the crack dealers unexploitable by the larger, legal society as they pursue their interpretations of the “American dream.”

Across the Atlantic, anthropologists and other social scientists began to influence government policies in the Republic of Ireland in the late 1980s, according to Thomas Wilson and Hastings Donnan, via what are called the economic and social partnerships with government. This should not be confused with hegemony as may have been the case with the 1960s American “military-industrial complex.” Rather, in a country in which anthropology traditionally had been practiced by foreign scholars investigating semi-isolated rural communities, it was a remarkable innovation for anthropologists and other academics to have creative input, with their governmental partner, in the policies that led to the Celtic Tiger economy in what had been one of the poorest countries in Europe and the social structural transformations that allowed the “boom” to filter down to the public at large. Anthropologists also have been called on more recently in Ireland to assist the government with ethnic minority issues, especially those of the indigenous minority, the travelling community.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, nonacademic jobs for anthropologists have increased, and more anthropologists have found themselves involved in the business world, especially in marketing, although the irony of this may not be lost on those who were students when Jules Henry’s anti-Madison Avenue research, published as Culture Against Man, was a popular textbook in the 1960s and 1970s. Much of the new material centers around cultural miscues that corporations and individuals make in advertising— physical gestures, slang, and so on—when acting crossculturally (e.g., Chevrolet’s attempt to market the Nova automobile in Latin America where the homonym of the name means “does not go” or Gerber’s attempt to market baby food with an infant’s picture on the label in parts of Africa where labels routinely showed the containers’ contents for consumers who could not read). Other businessoriented approaches fall more along the lines of the Western Electric bank-wiring study (noted above) conducted by W. Lloyd Warner in the 1930s.

Nonetheless, some members of the anthropological community still consider business anthropology to be “colluding with the enemy,” according to Jason S. Parker of Youngstown State University in a recent article in the Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter. Parker points out that these same critics, who stigmatize those applied anthropologists that work in business, are not offering any jobs to their recently minted bachelor’s degree graduates, who must then look elsewhere. Parker argues that the anthropological perspective can benefit the employees, as well as the corporations, through the inclusion of their input in the manufacturing processes.

Ann T. Jordan has written a persuasive argument for the use of anthropology in the business world in her book Business Anthropology. Jordan cites a number of cases in which anthropologists have ameliorated conditions that had the potential to lead to labor disharmony through managerial insensitivity to working conditions. Likewise, she explains that cross-cultural conflicts and misunderstandings on the job could easily be avoided with anthropological input.

Applied Anthropology Today

Louise Lamphere suggested a convergence of applied, practicing, and public anthropology in 2004. Lamphere argues that anthropologists in the 21st century should collaborate with each other, as well as with the groups that they are investigating, on archaeological research, health, urban, and environmental topics to unify their work on critical social, educational, and political issues. The traditional research populations increasingly want greater degrees of jurisdiction over what is written about them, and applied anthropologists, especially those influenced by the feminist critique, have advocated more collaboration with their respondents on ethnographic publications and museum exhibits in order to express more emic perspectives. This joint participation in the research and presentation process (whether by publication or museum display) fosters skills and generates capacities for indigenous change within communities.

Charles Menzies erects a paradigm to foster these joint ventures based on his work with the Gitkxaala Nation in British Columbia, which consists of four stages. First, the anthropologist opens a dialogue with the community that may suggest modifications to the research protocol. Then, research continues to grow and change in consultation with the respondents—who now are becoming “coethnographers.” Next, the research is conducted jointly between academics and members of the society. Finally, the data and results are analyzed by the joint team and the reports are coauthored. Lamphire advocates training students to conduct collaborative research of this nature as anthropologists increasingly find themselves employed by nonacademic public and private organizations.

21st-century anthropologists increasingly find themselves involved in policy-making jobs in areas as diverse as libraries and the army. The University of Rochester library hired anthropologist Nancy Fried Foster, under a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, to study undergraduates’ term paper research, to steer library renovations, and to make suggestions on the redesign of its Web site. Foster used traditional anthropological research methods to discover that not only are many students extremely uncomfortable with the increasing technological changes that universities are forcing on them but also that they use the libraries to escape from them.

A recent Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter reports that anthropologists increasingly may become involved in work with the military via a program called the Human Terrain System under the Department of Defense (DoD). According to Susan L. Andreatta, president of the SfAA, the DoD wants to employ graduate-level anthropologists in Iraq and Afghanistan. Opinions on this are divided, but one may note that the Society was founded by anthropologists who worked for the war effort in the 1940s.

The anthropologist and senior consultant to the Human Terrain Systems project is Montgomery McFate. William Roberts of St. Mary’s College, Maryland, describes her argument as one in which a military that has greater understanding of indigenous civilians in war zones will reduce loss of life and cultural destruction.

Also, archaeologists may be involved with the military on sensitive issues. As of this writing, archaeologist Laurie Rush serves as a cultural resources manager at the United States Army’s Fort Drum, where she works with the Integrated Training Area Management unit of the DoD’s Legacy Program to develop a consciousness for archaeological treasures. This project arose out of a British Museum report that detailed the construction of a helicopter pad by U.S. Marines on the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon, the destruction of a 2.5-millenniaold brick road, and the filling of sandbags with artifacts. Part of Rush’s program involves building models of archaeological sites, mosques, and cemeteries for soldiers to train to avoid.

Television programs such as Crime Scene Investigation (CSI), CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) have sparked an international interest in forensics. This, in turn, has led to a student population interested in forensic anthropology. Cable television’s Discovery Health channel has created a true-life version of the CSI phenomenon with its Forensic Files program, which features cases solved by forensic anthropologists, such as Elizabeth Murray of the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati who works regularly with law enforcement agencies across the country.

The ABC News and Christian Science Monitor Web sites occasionally report on the applications of forensic science. They describe forensic anthropologists and archaeologists who have been involved in the identification of the remains of the nearly 3,000 victims of the September 11, 2001, attack; Jon Stereberg, a forensic archaeologist, has tried to trace the evidence of 1992 gas attacks in the clothing of victims in the Balkans; and Clyde Collins Snow, a retired forensic archaeologist, has investigated grave sites in Guatemala, Bosnia, and Iraq. Currently, forensic specialists, such as Ariana Fernandez, are examining the bodies of Kurdish people who were found in mass graves and who are believed to have been massacred in a genocide attack during the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.

The travel and tourism industry is in dire need of the services of anthropologists, and this is becoming an attractive employment option to anthropology graduates, according to Susan Banks, an anthropologist involved in the travel industry. Too often, tourists will go to exotic locales where they believe that they are seeing the actual types of lives lived in those places, unaware that they are being fed a fabricated culture designed, not to expose them to life in other places, but to screen them from the true ways of life found in those locations. Commonly, tourists are discouraged from visiting local towns and actually learning something about the countries that they have visited. Anthropology can offer a remedy to this problem and provide some much-needed income to the local economies. Exploitation and insensitivity to indigenous people by culturally uninformed tourists does little to change the image of the “ugly American.” Likewise, the international sex trade both exploits and victimizes indigenous peoples and furthers the spread of dangerous diseases, such as HIV/AIDS.

Environmental degradation of local ecologies is another problem of culturally ignorant tourism. For this reason, Susan Charnley, in an article in Human Organization in 2005, suggests a change from nature tourism to ecotourism. She cites the case of Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) in Tanzania. Nature tourism involves traveling to pristine locations where tourists can experience and enjoy nature; ecotourism involves traveling to natural areas that conserve the local ecology while respecting the rights of the local cultures and encouraging sustainable development. Charnley makes the case for the increasingly difficult position of the Massai people since the creation of the NCA and the negative effect it has had on their economy. Charnley argues for culturally appropriate involvement of local people in tourist destinations in ways that will provide actual benefits to their communities. These benefits would include social and political justice and involvement in decision-making processes that directly influence their lives.

A selection of articles from Human Organization from the first decade of the 21st century includes such topics as the administration of federally managed fisheries, including a discussion of the role of James A. Acheson who was the first applied anthropologist hired by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1974 to conduct policy research and implementation through conservation and stewardship of marine ecosystems.

Another article described the importance of beer parties among Xhosa labor cooperatives on homesteads in South Africa. An article that has to do with changes in gender relations and commercial activities, as the global market expands to countries such as Mali, explores how the outside world can force local peoples to change the structure of their society by giving advantages to one gender over the other when that may not have been the case previously. Another article illustrates what the author of this chapter sees as a parallel between the popular use of family trusts in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s and a move from individual land tenure to collective, kinbased ownership on Mokil Atoll in Micronesia, as the region’s political, economic, and demographic transformation has imperiled the rights of absentee owners. By placing the land ownership in the kin group, it is protected from individual alienation.

A 2007 article by Kathryn Forbes is especially topical in the current social, economic, and political climate of the United States today. Forbes’s article examines how the regional land use of ideologies and popular images of farm workers has contributed to a housing crisis for Mexican agricultural laborers in Fresno County, California. Stereotypic descriptions of Mexican farm workers have resulted in the formulation of zoning codes that exacerbate demographic segregation in Fresno County. Most farm workers live in rural areas, which are more economical and more convenient to their sources of income but where there are fewer retail outlets—including groceries. The arrival of seasonal laborers, combined with a lack of affordable housing thanks to local policymakers, has engendered a regional overcrowding crisis for Mexican farm workers. Forbes’s role in this discussion is similar to the review of the roles that anthropology can play in public policy cited by Wilson and Donnan (2006) in Ireland.

Forbes’s article is especially relevant to the United States today as the influx of immigrant labor, thanks in part to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has made the appearance of Hispanic laborers a topic of vituperative discussion on national radio talk shows and political campaigns. This is a point that falls clearly within the purview of social science rather than politics as anthropological demographers and gerontologists clearly can demonstrate that not only does the country require immigrant labor because of statistical “full employment,” but also it needs to save social security from the influx of baby boom retirees.

The bankruptcy of social security was predicted in university classes as long ago as the 1970s. The increase in life spans, coupled with the potentially disastrous demographic effect of a baby boom generation that will retire to be supported by a much smaller (thanks to the introduction of the birth control pill in the 1960s) birth dearth/baby bust cohort, has the potential to lead to economic disaster for the latter group as their increasing social security taxes erode their quality of life. The baby boom retirees’ social security taxes must be replaced from somewhere—if not by eroding the birth dearth/baby bust cohort’s quality of life, then by an influx of tax contributors, for example, immigrant laborers.

Anthropologists are in a unique position to act as the social partners of policymakers on this issue not only by means of their demographic and gerontological expertise but also by their ethnographic contributions to allay the concerns of the extant non-Hispanic population of the United States over its possible perception of cultural drowning by immersion in a neo-Hispanic society del Norte (“land of the north”).

Likewise, anthropological expertise in indigenous Latin American medical beliefs, such as hot and cold, wet and dry bodily conditions derived from the ancient Mediterranean medical concept of humors where illnesses were believed to be caused by an imbalance of humors; folk illnesses, such as susto (“fright”), a culture bound syndrome found in southern Mexico in which an individual who does not recover from an illness is believed to have had a terrible fright in the past that prevents recovery from the unrelated illness (Rubel, O’Nell, & Collado-Ardon, 1991); and cultural sensitivities to variations in conceptions of sexual modesty and familial responsibilities will form a necessary component in the rapprochement of the two larger cultures although this may be difficult in cases of smaller subcultures.

Other areas for future research in applied anthropology include human trafficking (briefly cited in the discussion of tourism); indigenous rights (e.g., salmon fishing among the native Northwest coast peoples in North America, cattle grazing in the Burren in County Clare, Ireland, or the effects of water control on the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq); anthropometry and gender (in the cultural sense, not the linguistic sense) stereotypes and gender rearing roles; cultural relativism versus cultural interference, including whether or not Muslim women need to be “saved” or if Western hegemonists even have the right to do so; genital mutilation (male as well as female); the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in distributing information and treatment of HIV/AIDS; food waste, diet and health, and body image; intelligent design, globalization and hightech industry; and the role of biology and culture in psychiatric illnesses, to name but a few of the possibilities open to applied research in anthropology.

In an article titled “Making Our Voices Heard—Ethical Dilemmas and Opportunities,” in the November 2007 Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter, Mark Schuller of Vassar College gives a good review of the future of applied research in anthropology. Schuller writes that many anthropologists believe that their contributions are considered marginal and irrelevant and are passed over in policy making based on a review of the leading anthropological journals and newsletters. He argues that applied anthropologists with a holistic viewpoint can inform policymakers regarding the integrated structural correlation among debt and poverty, education, health care, and local welfare via their engagement with local communities. Schuller calls for local, global, and ethical analysis of current concerns to make anthropology applicable in the “real” world. He suggests that a good way to apply anthropology is through teaching; his students investigate public policies and then send letters to the editors of newspapers in order to introduce anthropological viewpoints into current policy discussions.

Schuller has been keyword-searching “anthropology” on Google and reports that he has found at least two stories a day in which anthropologists are interviewed or have authored stories in media outlets. Among the included issues that his students or other anthropologists have written about in daily news publications is the part played by anthropologists in clandestine activities, inequalities of globalization, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) health care bill, the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, No Child Left Behind, prison reform, disclosure of hormone content in milk, Hurricane Katrina “fatigue,” and the cancellation of international debt in impoverished nations of South America.

In the same issue, Amanda Stronza of Texas A&M University describes a new program in applied biodiversity science, which also will tackle poverty and cultural inequality. The interdisciplinary research program integrates cooperation between social and biological sciences and conservation organizations at the applied level. Research topics are to incorporate biodiversity with local legislative policy in partnership among academia, governments, NGOs, and local societies in four regions of the Americas.

This research paper has explored the subject of applied anthropology. It was done from a historical perspective in order to gain a processual understanding of how it arrived at the state in which it is found in early 21st-century anthropology.

A brief definition of applied anthropology was followed by a review of the origins of applied anthropology in the 19th century and a history of the field through World War II, the Fox Project, the Peru Vicos Project, and Project Camelot. The section on the later 20th century led into applied anthropology today and topics for future research.

Bibliography:

• Boas, (1903). Heredity in      head          form.      American Anthropologist, 5 (3), 530–538.
• Bourgois, P. (1995). In search of respect: Selling crack in El Barrio. NewYork: Cambridge University Press.
• Carlson, S. (2007). An anthropologist in the library. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53 (50), A26.
• Chagnon, N. (1997). Yanomamo (5th ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College.
• Colburn, L. L., Abbott-Jamieson, S., & Clay, P. M. (2006). Anthropological applications in the management of federally managed fisheries: Context, institutional history, and prospectus. Human Organization, 65 (3), 231–239.
• Dobyns, H. F., Doughty, P. L., & Lasswell, H. D. (Eds.). (1971). Peasants, power, and applied social change: Vicos as a model. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
• Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1969). The Nuer: A description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a Nilotic people. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
• Forbes, K. (2007). Bureaucratic strategies of exclusion: Land use ideology and images of Mexican farm workers in housing policy. Human Organization, 66 (2), 196–209.
• Foster, G. M. (1973). Traditional societies and technological change. New York: Harper & Row.
• Harris, M. (1968). The rise of anthropological theory. NewYork: Harper & Row.
• Henry, J. (1963). Culture against man. New York: Vintage Books.
• Horowitz, I. L. (Ed.). (1967). The rise and fall of project Camelot: Studies in the relationship between social science and practical politics. Cambridge: MIT Press.
• Jordan, A. T. (2003). Business anthropology. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
• Kroeber, A. L. (1919). On the principle of order in civilization as exemplified by changes of fashion. American Anthropologist, 21 (3), 253–263.
• Lamphere, L. (2004). The convergence of applied, practicing and public anthropology in the 21st century. Human Organization, 63 (4), 431–443.
• Lewis, O. (1963). The children of Sanchez: Autobiography of a Mexican family. New York: Vintage Books.
• Lewis, O. (1966). La vida: A Puerto Rican family in the culture of poverty—San Juan and New York. New York: Random House.
• Liebow, E. (1967). Tally’s corner. Boston: Little, Brown.
• Madian, L., & Oppenheim, A. N. (1969). Knowledge for what? The Camelot legacy: The dangers of sponsored research in the social sciences. British Journal of Sociology, 20 (3), 326–336.
• McAlister, P. (2004). Labor and beer in the Transeki, South Africa: Xhosa work parties in historical and contemporary perspective. Human Organization, 63 (1), 100–111.
• Mead, M. (1973). Coming of age in Samoa: A psychological study of primitive youth for Western civilization. New York: American Museum of Natural History. (Original work published 1928)
• Mead, M., & Rhoda M. (Eds.). (1949). The study of culture at a distance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Oles, B. (2007). Access and alienation: The promise and threat of stewardship on Mokil Atoll. Human Organization, 66 (1), 78–89.
• Rubel, A. J., O’Nell, C. W., & Collado-Ardón, R. (1991). Susto: A folk illness. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Schuller, M. (2007). Making our voices heard: Ethical dilemmas and opportunities. Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter, 18 (4), 15–17.
• Spradley, J. P. (1970). You owe yourself a drunk: An ethnography of urban nomads. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
• Stronza,A. (2007). New graduate research opportunity in applied biodiversity science. Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter, 18 (4), 43–44.
• Tax, S. (1975). Action anthropology. Current Anthropology, 16 (4), 514–517.
• Tierney, P. (2000). Darkness in El Dorado: How scientists and journalists devastated the Amazon. NewYork: W. W. Norton.
• van Willigen, J. (1993). Applied anthropology (Rev. ed). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
• Whorf, B. L. (1964). Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (J. B. Carroll, Ed.). Cambridge: MIT Press.
• Wilson, T. M., & Donnan, H. (2006). The anthropology of Ireland. Oxford, UK: Berg.
• Wooten, S. (2003). Women, men and market gardens: Gender relations and income generation in rural Mali. Human Organization, 62 (2), 166–177.

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GPT-fabricated scientific papers on Google Scholar: Key features, spread, and implications for preempting evidence manipulation

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Academic journals, archives, and repositories are seeing an increasing number of questionable research papers clearly produced using generative AI. They are often created with widely available, general-purpose AI applications, most likely ChatGPT, and mimic scientific writing. Google Scholar easily locates and lists these questionable papers alongside reputable, quality-controlled research. Our analysis of a selection of questionable GPT-fabricated scientific papers found in Google Scholar shows that many are about applied, often controversial topics susceptible to disinformation: the environment, health, and computing. The resulting enhanced potential for malicious manipulation of society’s evidence base, particularly in politically divisive domains, is a growing concern.

Swedish School of Library and Information Science, University of Borås, Sweden

Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Sweden

Division of Environmental Communication, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

Research Questions

• Where are questionable publications produced with generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) that can be found via Google Scholar published or deposited?
• What are the main characteristics of these publications in relation to predominant subject categories?
• How are these publications spread in the research infrastructure for scholarly communication?
• How is the role of the scholarly communication infrastructure challenged in maintaining public trust in science and evidence through inappropriate use of generative AI?

research note Summary

• A sample of scientific papers with signs of GPT-use found on Google Scholar was retrieved, downloaded, and analyzed using a combination of qualitative coding and descriptive statistics. All papers contained at least one of two common phrases returned by conversational agents that use large language models (LLM) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google Search was then used to determine the extent to which copies of questionable, GPT-fabricated papers were available in various repositories, archives, citation databases, and social media platforms.
• Roughly two-thirds of the retrieved papers were found to have been produced, at least in part, through undisclosed, potentially deceptive use of GPT. The majority (57%) of these questionable papers dealt with policy-relevant subjects (i.e., environment, health, computing), susceptible to influence operations. Most were available in several copies on different domains (e.g., social media, archives, and repositories).
• Two main risks arise from the increasingly common use of GPT to (mass-)produce fake, scientific publications. First, the abundance of fabricated “studies” seeping into all areas of the research infrastructure threatens to overwhelm the scholarly communication system and jeopardize the integrity of the scientific record. A second risk lies in the increased possibility that convincingly scientific-looking content was in fact deceitfully created with AI tools and is also optimized to be retrieved by publicly available academic search engines, particularly Google Scholar. However small, this possibility and awareness of it risks undermining the basis for trust in scientific knowledge and poses serious societal risks.

Implications

The use of ChatGPT to generate text for academic papers has raised concerns about research integrity. Discussion of this phenomenon is ongoing in editorials, commentaries, opinion pieces, and on social media (Bom, 2023; Stokel-Walker, 2024; Thorp, 2023). There are now several lists of papers suspected of GPT misuse, and new papers are constantly being added. 1 See for example Academ-AI, https://www.academ-ai.info/ , and Retraction Watch, https://retractionwatch.com/papers-and-peer-reviews-with-evidence-of-chatgpt-writing/ . While many legitimate uses of GPT for research and academic writing exist (Huang & Tan, 2023; Kitamura, 2023; Lund et al., 2023), its undeclared use—beyond proofreading—has potentially far-reaching implications for both science and society, but especially for their relationship. It, therefore, seems important to extend the discussion to one of the most accessible and well-known intermediaries between science, but also certain types of misinformation, and the public, namely Google Scholar, also in response to the legitimate concerns that the discussion of generative AI and misinformation needs to be more nuanced and empirically substantiated  (Simon et al., 2023).

Google Scholar, https://scholar.google.com , is an easy-to-use academic search engine. It is available for free, and its index is extensive (Gusenbauer & Haddaway, 2020). It is also often touted as a credible source for academic literature and even recommended in library guides, by media and information literacy initiatives, and fact checkers (Tripodi et al., 2023). However, Google Scholar lacks the transparency and adherence to standards that usually characterize citation databases. Instead, Google Scholar uses automated crawlers, like Google’s web search engine (Martín-Martín et al., 2021), and the inclusion criteria are based on primarily technical standards, allowing any individual author—with or without scientific affiliation—to upload papers to be indexed (Google Scholar Help, n.d.). It has been shown that Google Scholar is susceptible to manipulation through citation exploits (Antkare, 2020) and by providing access to fake scientific papers (Dadkhah et al., 2017). A large part of Google Scholar’s index consists of publications from established scientific journals or other forms of quality-controlled, scholarly literature. However, the index also contains a large amount of gray literature, including student papers, working papers, reports, preprint servers, and academic networking sites, as well as material from so-called “questionable” academic journals, including paper mills. The search interface does not offer the possibility to filter the results meaningfully by material type, publication status, or form of quality control, such as limiting the search to peer-reviewed material.

To understand the occurrence of ChatGPT (co-)authored work in Google Scholar’s index, we scraped it for publications, including one of two common ChatGPT responses (see Appendix A) that we encountered on social media and in media reports (DeGeurin, 2024). The results of our descriptive statistical analyses showed that around 62% did not declare the use of GPTs. Most of these GPT-fabricated papers were found in non-indexed journals and working papers, but some cases included research published in mainstream scientific journals and conference proceedings. 2 Indexed journals mean scholarly journals indexed by abstract and citation databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, where the indexation implies journals with high scientific quality. Non-indexed journals are journals that fall outside of this indexation. More than half (57%) of these GPT-fabricated papers concerned policy-relevant subject areas susceptible to influence operations. To avoid increasing the visibility of these publications, we abstained from referencing them in this research note. However, we have made the data available in the Harvard Dataverse repository.

The publications were related to three issue areas—health (14.5%), environment (19.5%) and computing (23%)—with key terms such “healthcare,” “COVID-19,” or “infection”for health-related papers, and “analysis,” “sustainable,” and “global” for environment-related papers. In several cases, the papers had titles that strung together general keywords and buzzwords, thus alluding to very broad and current research. These terms included “biology,” “telehealth,” “climate policy,” “diversity,” and “disrupting,” to name just a few.  While the study’s scope and design did not include a detailed analysis of which parts of the articles included fabricated text, our dataset did contain the surrounding sentences for each occurrence of the suspicious phrases that formed the basis for our search and subsequent selection. Based on that, we can say that the phrases occurred in most sections typically found in scientific publications, including the literature review, methods, conceptual and theoretical frameworks, background, motivation or societal relevance, and even discussion. This was confirmed during the joint coding, where we read and discussed all articles. It became clear that not just the text related to the telltale phrases was created by GPT, but that almost all articles in our sample of questionable articles likely contained traces of GPT-fabricated text everywhere.

Evidence hacking and backfiring effects

Generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) can be used to produce texts that mimic scientific writing. These texts, when made available online—as we demonstrate—leak into the databases of academic search engines and other parts of the research infrastructure for scholarly communication. This development exacerbates problems that were already present with less sophisticated text generators (Antkare, 2020; Cabanac & Labbé, 2021). Yet, the public release of ChatGPT in 2022, together with the way Google Scholar works, has increased the likelihood of lay people (e.g., media, politicians, patients, students) coming across questionable (or even entirely GPT-fabricated) papers and other problematic research findings. Previous research has emphasized that the ability to determine the value and status of scientific publications for lay people is at stake when misleading articles are passed off as reputable (Haider & Åström, 2017) and that systematic literature reviews risk being compromised (Dadkhah et al., 2017). It has also been highlighted that Google Scholar, in particular, can be and has been exploited for manipulating the evidence base for politically charged issues and to fuel conspiracy narratives (Tripodi et al., 2023). Both concerns are likely to be magnified in the future, increasing the risk of what we suggest calling evidence hacking —the strategic and coordinated malicious manipulation of society’s evidence base.

The authority of quality-controlled research as evidence to support legislation, policy, politics, and other forms of decision-making is undermined by the presence of undeclared GPT-fabricated content in publications professing to be scientific. Due to the large number of archives, repositories, mirror sites, and shadow libraries to which they spread, there is a clear risk that GPT-fabricated, questionable papers will reach audiences even after a possible retraction. There are considerable technical difficulties involved in identifying and tracing computer-fabricated papers (Cabanac & Labbé, 2021; Dadkhah et al., 2023; Jones, 2024), not to mention preventing and curbing their spread and uptake.

However, as the rise of the so-called anti-vaxx movement during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing obstruction and denial of climate change show, retracting erroneous publications often fuels conspiracies and increases the following of these movements rather than stopping them. To illustrate this mechanism, climate deniers frequently question established scientific consensus by pointing to other, supposedly scientific, studies that support their claims. Usually, these are poorly executed, not peer-reviewed, based on obsolete data, or even fraudulent (Dunlap & Brulle, 2020). A similar strategy is successful in the alternative epistemic world of the global anti-vaccination movement (Carrion, 2018) and the persistence of flawed and questionable publications in the scientific record already poses significant problems for health research, policy, and lawmakers, and thus for society as a whole (Littell et al., 2024). Considering that a person’s support for “doing your own research” is associated with increased mistrust in scientific institutions (Chinn & Hasell, 2023), it will be of utmost importance to anticipate and consider such backfiring effects already when designing a technical solution, when suggesting industry or legal regulation, and in the planning of educational measures.

Recommendations

Solutions should be based on simultaneous considerations of technical, educational, and regulatory approaches, as well as incentives, including social ones, across the entire research infrastructure. Paying attention to how these approaches and incentives relate to each other can help identify points and mechanisms for disruption. Recognizing fraudulent academic papers must happen alongside understanding how they reach their audiences and what reasons there might be for some of these papers successfully “sticking around.” A possible way to mitigate some of the risks associated with GPT-fabricated scholarly texts finding their way into academic search engine results would be to provide filtering options for facets such as indexed journals, gray literature, peer-review, and similar on the interface of publicly available academic search engines. Furthermore, evaluation tools for indexed journals 3 Such as LiU Journal CheckUp, https://ep.liu.se/JournalCheckup/default.aspx?lang=eng . could be integrated into the graphical user interfaces and the crawlers of these academic search engines. To enable accountability, it is important that the index (database) of such a search engine is populated according to criteria that are transparent, open to scrutiny, and appropriate to the workings of  science and other forms of academic research. Moreover, considering that Google Scholar has no real competitor, there is a strong case for establishing a freely accessible, non-specialized academic search engine that is not run for commercial reasons but for reasons of public interest. Such measures, together with educational initiatives aimed particularly at policymakers, science communicators, journalists, and other media workers, will be crucial to reducing the possibilities for and effects of malicious manipulation or evidence hacking. It is important not to present this as a technical problem that exists only because of AI text generators but to relate it to the wider concerns in which it is embedded. These range from a largely dysfunctional scholarly publishing system (Haider & Åström, 2017) and academia’s “publish or perish” paradigm to Google’s near-monopoly and ideological battles over the control of information and ultimately knowledge. Any intervention is likely to have systemic effects; these effects need to be considered and assessed in advance and, ideally, followed up on.

Our study focused on a selection of papers that were easily recognizable as fraudulent. We used this relatively small sample as a magnifying glass to examine, delineate, and understand a problem that goes beyond the scope of the sample itself, which however points towards larger concerns that require further investigation. The work of ongoing whistleblowing initiatives 4 Such as Academ-AI, https://www.academ-ai.info/ , and Retraction Watch, https://retractionwatch.com/papers-and-peer-reviews-with-evidence-of-chatgpt-writing/ . , recent media reports of journal closures (Subbaraman, 2024), or GPT-related changes in word use and writing style (Cabanac et al., 2021; Stokel-Walker, 2024) suggest that we only see the tip of the iceberg. There are already more sophisticated cases (Dadkhah et al., 2023) as well as cases involving fabricated images (Gu et al., 2022). Our analysis shows that questionable and potentially manipulative GPT-fabricated papers permeate the research infrastructure and are likely to become a widespread phenomenon. Our findings underline that the risk of fake scientific papers being used to maliciously manipulate evidence (see Dadkhah et al., 2017) must be taken seriously. Manipulation may involve undeclared automatic summaries of texts, inclusion in literature reviews, explicit scientific claims, or the concealment of errors in studies so that they are difficult to detect in peer review. However, the mere possibility of these things happening is a significant risk in its own right that can be strategically exploited and will have ramifications for trust in and perception of science. Society’s methods of evaluating sources and the foundations of media and information literacy are under threat and public trust in science is at risk of further erosion, with far-reaching consequences for society in dealing with information disorders. To address this multifaceted problem, we first need to understand why it exists and proliferates.

Finding 1: 139 GPT-fabricated, questionable papers were found and listed as regular results on the Google Scholar results page. Non-indexed journals dominate.

Most questionable papers we found were in non-indexed journals or were working papers, but we did also find some in established journals, publications, conferences, and repositories. We found a total of 139 papers with a suspected deceptive use of ChatGPT or similar LLM applications (see Table 1). Out of these, 19 were in indexed journals, 89 were in non-indexed journals, 19 were student papers found in university databases, and 12 were working papers (mostly in preprint databases). Table 1 divides these papers into categories. Health and environment papers made up around 34% (47) of the sample. Of these, 66% were present in non-indexed journals.

Finding 2: GPT-fabricated, questionable papers are disseminated online, permeating the research infrastructure for scholarly communication, often in multiple copies. Applied topics with practical implications dominate.

The 20 papers concerning health-related issues are distributed across 20 unique domains, accounting for 46 URLs. The 27 papers dealing with environmental issues can be found across 26 unique domains, accounting for 56 URLs.  Most of the identified papers exist in multiple copies and have already spread to several archives, repositories, and social media. It would be difficult, or impossible, to remove them from the scientific record.

As apparent from Table 2, GPT-fabricated, questionable papers are seeping into most parts of the online research infrastructure for scholarly communication. Platforms on which identified papers have appeared include ResearchGate, ORCiD, Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology (JPTCP), Easychair, Frontiers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE), and X/Twitter. Thus, even if they are retracted from their original source, it will prove very difficult to track, remove, or even just mark them up on other platforms. Moreover, unless regulated, Google Scholar will enable their continued and most likely unlabeled discoverability.

A word rain visualization (Centre for Digital Humanities Uppsala, 2023), which combines word prominences through TF-IDF 5 Term frequency–inverse document frequency , a method for measuring the significance of a word in a document compared to its frequency across all documents in a collection. scores with semantic similarity of the full texts of our sample of GPT-generated articles that fall into the “Environment” and “Health” categories, reflects the two categories in question. However, as can be seen in Figure 1, it also reveals overlap and sub-areas. The y-axis shows word prominences through word positions and font sizes, while the x-axis indicates semantic similarity. In addition to a certain amount of overlap, this reveals sub-areas, which are best described as two distinct events within the word rain. The event on the left bundles terms related to the development and management of health and healthcare with “challenges,” “impact,” and “potential of artificial intelligence”emerging as semantically related terms. Terms related to research infrastructures, environmental, epistemic, and technological concepts are arranged further down in the same event (e.g., “system,” “climate,” “understanding,” “knowledge,” “learning,” “education,” “sustainable”). A second distinct event further to the right bundles terms associated with fish farming and aquatic medicinal plants, highlighting the presence of an aquaculture cluster.  Here, the prominence of groups of terms such as “used,” “model,” “-based,” and “traditional” suggests the presence of applied research on these topics. The two events making up the word rain visualization, are linked by a less dominant but overlapping cluster of terms related to “energy” and “water.”

The bar chart of the terms in the paper subset (see Figure 2) complements the word rain visualization by depicting the most prominent terms in the full texts along the y-axis. Here, word prominences across health and environment papers are arranged descendingly, where values outside parentheses are TF-IDF values (relative frequencies) and values inside parentheses are raw term frequencies (absolute frequencies).

Finding 3: Google Scholar presents results from quality-controlled and non-controlled citation databases on the same interface, providing unfiltered access to GPT-fabricated questionable papers.

Google Scholar’s central position in the publicly accessible scholarly communication infrastructure, as well as its lack of standards, transparency, and accountability in terms of inclusion criteria, has potentially serious implications for public trust in science. This is likely to exacerbate the already-known potential to exploit Google Scholar for evidence hacking (Tripodi et al., 2023) and will have implications for any attempts to retract or remove fraudulent papers from their original publication venues. Any solution must consider the entirety of the research infrastructure for scholarly communication and the interplay of different actors, interests, and incentives.

We searched and scraped Google Scholar using the Python library Scholarly (Cholewiak et al., 2023) for papers that included specific phrases known to be common responses from ChatGPT and similar applications with the same underlying model (GPT3.5 or GPT4): “as of my last knowledge update” and/or “I don’t have access to real-time data” (see Appendix A). This facilitated the identification of papers that likely used generative AI to produce text, resulting in 227 retrieved papers. The papers’ bibliographic information was automatically added to a spreadsheet and downloaded into Zotero. 6 An open-source reference manager, https://zotero.org .

We employed multiple coding (Barbour, 2001) to classify the papers based on their content. First, we jointly assessed whether the paper was suspected of fraudulent use of ChatGPT (or similar) based on how the text was integrated into the papers and whether the paper was presented as original research output or the AI tool’s role was acknowledged. Second, in analyzing the content of the papers, we continued the multiple coding by classifying the fraudulent papers into four categories identified during an initial round of analysis—health, environment, computing, and others—and then determining which subjects were most affected by this issue (see Table 1). Out of the 227 retrieved papers, 88 papers were written with legitimate and/or declared use of GPTs (i.e., false positives, which were excluded from further analysis), and 139 papers were written with undeclared and/or fraudulent use (i.e., true positives, which were included in further analysis). The multiple coding was conducted jointly by all authors of the present article, who collaboratively coded and cross-checked each other’s interpretation of the data simultaneously in a shared spreadsheet file. This was done to single out coding discrepancies and settle coding disagreements, which in turn ensured methodological thoroughness and analytical consensus (see Barbour, 2001). Redoing the category coding later based on our established coding schedule, we achieved an intercoder reliability (Cohen’s kappa) of 0.806 after eradicating obvious differences.

The ranking algorithm of Google Scholar prioritizes highly cited and older publications (Martín-Martín et al., 2016). Therefore, the position of the articles on the search engine results pages was not particularly informative, considering the relatively small number of results in combination with the recency of the publications. Only the query “as of my last knowledge update” had more than two search engine result pages. On those, questionable articles with undeclared use of GPTs were evenly distributed across all result pages (min: 4, max: 9, mode: 8), with the proportion of undeclared use being slightly higher on average on later search result pages.

To understand how the papers making fraudulent use of generative AI were disseminated online, we programmatically searched for the paper titles (with exact string matching) in Google Search from our local IP address (see Appendix B) using the googlesearch – python library(Vikramaditya, 2020). We manually verified each search result to filter out false positives—results that were not related to the paper—and then compiled the most prominent URLs by field. This enabled the identification of other platforms through which the papers had been spread. We did not, however, investigate whether copies had spread into SciHub or other shadow libraries, or if they were referenced in Wikipedia.

We used descriptive statistics to count the prevalence of the number of GPT-fabricated papers across topics and venues and top domains by subject. The pandas software library for the Python programming language (The pandas development team, 2024) was used for this part of the analysis. Based on the multiple coding, paper occurrences were counted in relation to their categories, divided into indexed journals, non-indexed journals, student papers, and working papers. The schemes, subdomains, and subdirectories of the URL strings were filtered out while top-level domains and second-level domains were kept, which led to normalizing domain names. This, in turn, allowed the counting of domain frequencies in the environment and health categories. To distinguish word prominences and meanings in the environment and health-related GPT-fabricated questionable papers, a semantically-aware word cloud visualization was produced through the use of a word rain (Centre for Digital Humanities Uppsala, 2023) for full-text versions of the papers. Font size and y-axis positions indicate word prominences through TF-IDF scores for the environment and health papers (also visualized in a separate bar chart with raw term frequencies in parentheses), and words are positioned along the x-axis to reflect semantic similarity (Skeppstedt et al., 2024), with an English Word2vec skip gram model space (Fares et al., 2017). An English stop word list was used, along with a manually produced list including terms such as “https,” “volume,” or “years.”

• Artificial Intelligence
• / Search engines

Cite this Essay

Haider, J., Söderström, K. R., Ekström, B., & Rödl, M. (2024). GPT-fabricated scientific papers on Google Scholar: Key features, spread, and implications for preempting evidence manipulation. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review . https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-156

• / Appendix B

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This research has been supported by Mistra, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, through the research program Mistra Environmental Communication (Haider, Ekström, Rödl) and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation [2020.0004] (Söderström).

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

The research described in this article was carried out under Swedish legislation. According to the relevant EU and Swedish legislation (2003:460) on the ethical review of research involving humans (“Ethical Review Act”), the research reported on here is not subject to authorization by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (“etikprövningsmyndigheten”) (SRC, 2017).

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original author and source are properly credited.

Data Availability

All data needed to replicate this study are available at the Harvard Dataverse: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/WUVD8X

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the article manuscript as well as the editorial group of Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review for their thoughtful feedback and input.

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