JRP Focus Areas

Aims, Subject Areas, and Core Questions

Version 2.0
Version history: v.2.0, 14 Jan 2013; v.1.0, 15 Nov. 2011

Focus Area

Subject Areas

Core Questions

#1. Research Applications
Aim: to develop conventional or innovative forms of applied research with a view to meeting contemporary challenges

Applied Research - Science & Technology - Science & Politics - Applied Social Science - Applied Systems Thinking - Commercial Research - Design-Oriented Research - Professionalism & Expertise - Reflective Practice

What happens when the procedures or results of research are applied to practical affairs? What constitutes competent practice in applied research?
#2. Research Spaces
Aim: to examine the institutional, cultural, and historical factors that shape research practice so as to help researchers open up new spaces for innovative research

Research Contexts - Science & Society - Science & Technology - Science & Politics - Research Culture - Research Ethics - Participatory Research - Research Policy - Art & Research - Design-Oriented Research

What societal or historical forces shape research practice and obstruct or promote open inquiry? Are there new spaces for meaningful inquiry to be discovered and cultivated?
#3. Research Education
Aim: to promote new directions in research education so as to prepare researchers for their role in society

Research Training - Research Process - Research Competence - Research Methods - Research Ethics - Professionalism & Expertise - Participatory Research - Research Reporting & Publishing - Science & Society

How can research education be more effective? Are there ways to better prepare researchers for their roles and responsibilities in society?
#4. Research Experiences
Aim: to offer researchers a platform for sharing research experiences, appreciating the experiences of other researchers, and developing their own understanding of good practice

Research Experiences & Cases - Researcher Biographies & Careers - Research Contexts - Research Competence - Research Process - Research Reporting & Publishing - Collaborative Research- Research Ethics - Reflective Practice - Research on Research

How do researchers deal with the demands of research practice, including its subjective and intersubjective sides? What can be learnt from the experiences of individual researchers or research teams?
#5. Research Philosophy
Aim: to encourage reflection on the philosophical underpinnings of research, the specific research frameworks they inform, and corresponding notions of what constitutes valid and relevant research practice

Research Frameworks & Paradigms - Philosophy of Science - Research Ethics - Practical Philosophy - Discourse Theory & Practice - Applied Research - Professionalism & Expertise - Critical Social Science - Reflective Practice - Systems Thinking - Science & Politics

What kinds of thought patterns, beliefs, values, and conventions underlie research practice? Can philosophical reflection support new forms of good research and professional practice?
#6. Research on Research
Aim: to review and innovate conventional thinking about research as it is contained in notions such as scientific method, objective attitude, and logic of inquiry, with a view to expanding their range of application and exploring new forms of research

Logic of Inquiry - Science Theory - Scientific Method - Philosophy of Science - Second-Order Research - Research Experiences & Cases - Research Process - Research Methods - Systems Thinking - Applied Research - Science & Society

What can be learnt from successful and unsuccessful cases of research, what constitutes its specific quality? How can the process of research be extended to cover new domains?

Note. This list of focus areas and subject areas is part of JRP's Concept Hierarchy, a taxonomy of index terms related to research practice that consists of three levels: (1) focus areas, (2) subject areas, and (3) keywords.