Making Research Apply: High Stakes Public Policy in a Regulatory Environment
Archer, D., Pettigrew, T. F. & Aronson, E. (1992). Making research apply: High stakes public policy in a regulatory environment. American Psychologist, 47, 10, 1233-1236.
The experiences of 3 social psychologists asked to evaluate (and improve) a series of large-scale programs designed to change energy-related attitudes and behavior are described. The research generated significant change but also substantial conflict involving both the utility companies being evaluated and the state agency that commissioned the evaluation. This experience is reviewed with an eye to maximizing the usefulness of future efforts to apply social psychology in complex and potentially conflicted public policy arenas. The difference between influence and power models of applied research is discussed, and possible remedies are examined for social psychologists undertaking future research similar in scale, policy consequences, or potential controversy.
