In this digital age, millions of people can tweet instantly
about the issues of their choice: economics, jobs, racial disparities, violence,
education, transportation, the environment, and so on. News media and advocates
can raise awareness and provoke debates. Major social issues all seem to contain
pressing challenges that demand solutions as quickly as possible.
In this era of instant information is social research still
relevant? Does the laborious process of systematically gathering and
interpreting information add value? That question focuses on the raison d’etre
of Wilder Research and other organizations that do social research. I would
suggest that we find social research motivating and fulfilling because we see it
as a means to improve the quality of life for all people in a just way. Some of
the features of social research that make it more important than ever include:
Addressing root causes
to achieve long-term improvement. It’s frequently easy to see the symptoms
of problems – someone out of a job, a student who drops out of school, a person
victimized by violence. But understanding the underlying problems does not
always happen easily. Research can dig in and discern those causes. We know,
for example, that certain groups of people live longer and healthier lives than
others. That’s why we have done research to understand what might account for
that. We know that certain groups of children do better in school. That’s why
we’ve done research related to academic achievement and early childhood
development. We seek to understand what accounts for differences such as these and, more importantly, what we can do to eliminate them.
Separating facts from
myths. George Soros of the Open Society Foundation has gone so far as to
say that “the pursuit of truth has lost much of its appeal. When reality is
unpleasant, illusions offer an attractive escape route. In difficult times
unscrupulous manipulators enjoy a competitive advantage over those who seek to
confront reality.” In the absence of information, loud voices gain credence,
whether right or wrong. Interest groups along all parts of the political
spectrum try to entice us to accept their spin. Prior to our studies of
homelessness, for example, many beliefs existed about where homeless people
came from, what put them onto the streets or brought them to shelters, and how
employment, family background, and health related to homelessness. Good
research debunked the myths and validated the facts.
The democratization of
information. Transparent, accessible information levels the playing field
for all members of a community. Knowledge empowers. In making data freely available, through Minnesota Compass for example, we enable everyone the opportunity to
understand trends in living conditions and needs and to monitor the effects of
work intended to improve those conditions and meet those needs. No special
training or resources are required for someone to obtain information to support
themselves in democratic participation and decision making.
Anticipating what lies
beyond the horizon. Research on trends can help us anticipate what the
future might hold. In addition, needs assessments enable us to identify and
quantify both positive and negative community conditions that exist, so we can
prevent problems from becoming large and can build on existing strengths.
Increasing our
effectiveness to improve our quality of life. We entrust government and
nonprofit organizations to meet some of our communities’ needs. Program
evaluation research provides a systematic means to obtain information to
understand the effectiveness of those organizations and to improve their
impacts.
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that true education
involves developing both intelligence and character. I like to borrow that
thought to suggest that our character (our values, ideals, aspirations)
motivates us to act to improve our communities; social research offers collective
intelligence (information, insight) to make that action as effective as
possible.
