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The Future of Applied Child Development Research and Public Policy
Author(s) -
McCall Robert B.,
Groark Chrstina J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8624.00134
Subject(s) - scholarship , public relations , focus (optics) , child development , dissemination , psychology , focus group , political science , sociology , developmental psychology , law , physics , optics , anthropology
After reviewing a brief general history of applied child development research, this paper suggests that in the future we should study questions that society needs to answer as well as questions that might contribute to theory, and that our research methods need to be adjusted to match these types of questions. Further, academics are urged to broaden their audience from a nearly exclusive focus on other academics to a focus on the three p s — practitioners, policymakers, and the public — and to recognize that scholarship is packaged differently for these audiences. Finally, it is suggested that applied child development research should market as well as sell, partner with nonacademic groups, disseminate results more vigorously, and focus efforts on local as well as national issues.