ATLANTA — New research has been published in the Security & Strategy research section via Stimson. The research titled ‘Bridging the Gap Between Academic Research and National Security‘ was written by Georgia State University Professor of Communication and Middle East Studies; and Transcultural Conflict and Violence Faculty Member, Dr. Mia Bloom. The research examines the tension in social sciences between basic and applied research in the shifting funding landscape and research priorities for sponsored programs. The chapter is Bloom’s contribution to the debate about theoretical vs applied research and is from the forthcoming Michael Desch and David Montgomery’s edited volume featuring Minerva Researchers
Abstract
This chapter examines the ways in which academic research, especially research that is focused on violence, can serve more than one purpose. Certainly, academic research must first and foremost consider whether it is grounded in the theoretical traditions of a particular discipline. It remains a paramount goal that any research on violence furthers the sciences of the study and contributes to a better understanding of politics and power. The gold standard is evident in the natural sciences where they conceive of science as “a cycle that moves from discovery to invention and back again, a model that breaks down disciplinary walls and encourages collaboration.” Political science might be the only science that disdains and dismisses applied research. On the one hand, debates rage over whether something applied is sufficiently theoretical, and a second debate blames social scientists for failing to demonstrate the utility and usefulness of their research. The chapter explores the debate.
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