Bridging academia and practice: The value of ‘real-world’ research
Introduction
Hello and welcome to my first blog post! I have always wanted to start a blog, so doing this in line with launching the new website feels like the perfect time. I thought talking about the crossover between academic and ‘consultancy style’ research would be a good topic – as someone who has a hybrid research career which crosses between the two, this is something I think about a lot. In today’s world, research plays a crucial role in so many areas- it is used to shape policy, business strategies, and social initiatives. However, there is often a disconnect between academic research and its real-world application. Here, I briefly explore the intersection of academia and applied research, and discuss how over the years, I have learned to blend both approaches to inform how I work here at Research Write.
The intersection of academia and applied research
Some forms of academic research can be very theoretical – this is something I struggled to grasp when I worked full-time at a university. When I was writing up my PhD thesis, the most challenging part was ensuring I used theory to inform my work. Did I want to take a feminist perspective? Was transnationalism or trans-localism better suited? And really, what do they even mean? In contrast, consulting and applied research often focus on immediate, real-world solutions. However, it is possible to integrate both perspectives – theories can be used to help hypothesise or come up with ideas, and these can be explored further with applied research.
Similarly, universities often emphasise methodological rigour and peer review. This helps to ensure the reliability of findings but can sometimes result in research that is disconnected from the ‘real world’ – again, I often found this frustrating. I was conducting research and writing papers, but I wondered what its actual value was? Who would read my work- besides other academics? This led me to wonder if I was exploiting my research participants… (a topic for another blog post). When I entered the consultancy world, I realised clients wanted actionable insights, usually with tighter deadlines (three months to complete a whole project?!) all while facing real-world constraints. My work now involves blending both approaches, I do my best to ensure the research I conduct is methodologically sound, while also making the findings directly applicable to my clients.
Another big difference is the ethics processes. The university projects I work on require complex ethics applications to be submitted, which are then reviewed by an ethics committee. These can sometimes take months to be approved. Usually, consultancy projects don’t require such in-depth ethics applications; however, I use my learning from university ethics applications to ensure the work I do is as ethical as possible. Perhaps the biggest difference for me personally is the style of write-up. I became accustomed to writing journal papers that were peer reviewed, often with a heavy focus on theory. Yet, the reports I write for clients now are much shorter and to the point. What have we found out and what can they do to improve their work. I also use much shorter sentences.
Conclusion
I think what I’m trying to say here is no one approach is better than the other, it all depends on the context you’re working in, your aim, and if I’m being completely honest, who is funding that work. But, bridging the gap between academic research and practical application can be helping in making informed decisions that drive real-world impact. High-quality research must be rigorous, accessible, and actionable to be effective. Through Research Write, I help organisations navigate these challenges by providing research and Evaluation that is both methodologically strong and practically useful. So, if you are looking to make research work for your organisation, please do get in touch and we can explore how we can collaborate!
