While waiting for nature to take her course: There's nothing so practical as a good...design

Abstract

In this essay, I first describe some examples of curiosity-based, basic research inspired by Lewin's famous dictum that there is nothing so practical as a good...theory. Then, I describe several examples of recent intervention studies that leverage basic research to make the world a better place. Next, in the spirit of Lewin, I suggest that there is nothing so practical as a good...design-and describe "state of the art" quasi-experimental designs to evaluate tobacco control policies and suggest the sort of designs one might employ to evaluate smoking prevention programs implemented before kids have even started smoking. Finally, I conclude by suggesting the need to change our academic culture to encourage more emphasis on mobilizing the knowledge we obtain from our research. © 2011 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.