UCSD Government and Community Relations (GCR)
UCSD's GCR has a new publication out called "UCSD and You." It describes approximately 200 UCSD programs available to the larger community. As the GCR notes on their web site:

The three missions of the University of California at San Diego are Teaching, Research and Public Service. Our public service manifests itself in a myriad of ways. We actively engage in projects and programs that help enhance the quality of life in San Diego. UCSD faculty, students and staff carry out many service programs in the region, from the US-Mexico Border to North County and from Imperial County to the Pacific Ocean. Volunteering at local clinics and community centers and mentoring at K-12 classrooms, UCSD faculty, students and staff we are intricately involved in the life of the greater San Diego Community.

The 2004 edition of UCSD and You, the directory of UCSD outreach programs and services, can be downloaded in its entirity, or just individual chapters.  http://gcr.ucsd.edu/community_relations_outreach.htm

UCSD's Volunteer Connection
Established in 1986, UCSD's Volunteer Connection "dedicates its time and resources to providing the UCSD community with fresh and new innovative volunteer opportunities." UCSD's Associated Students organization has a Web site with details about Service Learning opportunities: http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~volconn/

Distinguishing between "Basic" and "Applied" forms of Research

It is important to be able to distinguish between basic and applied types of research design. In the USP Senior Sequence you can do either. But we place limits on the kind of applied research you can do. The main criteria we insist upon is that your Senior Research Project (SRP) contributes to scholarship in your field of study. Some forms of applied research do not meet this criteria. An investigator may conduct excellent applied research, but the "deliverable" of the research (i.e., its outcome, intended purpose) is not geared to contributing to scholarship. For instance, a study conducted for a particular client where the research purpose is to gather evidence in support of a constructing, say, a new ball park, or trolly line extension, is not scholarship. Likewise, simply describing the particular details of some process such as the number of trucks crossing the US-Mexico border, or the incidence of poor people getting evicted from their residence, is not scholarship. To meet the criteria of scholarship you must be adding value in some way that feeds an ongoing intellectual discussion within academic circles (e.g., debates underway in journals focused on housing, urban studies, environmental policy, etc.).

It can be difficult for beginning researchers to determine if their thesis topic has the necessary level of scholarly content and critical analysis. The notes below provide a bit more information. But what you really need to do is interact with your professors and TA, and steep yourself in the world of scholarly literature. Seek out and read the academic discourse (literature) on your subject.

Basic Research

From the perspective of the social sciences (e.g., sociology), Neuman (2000, 505) defines basic research as "research that advances knowledge of the fundamentals of how the social world works and develops general theoretical explanations." For instance, some basic research in the field of urban and regional studies aims to better understand the political ecomomy of regional development (taking into account such concepts as globalization, metropolitan governance, the so-called new regionalism). Other basic research in urban studies and planning may examine the digital divide, housing crisis, environmental problems, infrastructure, etc. This type of research may certainly be motivated by the desire to make the world a better place, but there is no necessary or direct connection to linking the knowledge to action or applications. For instance, basic research on watershed-based approaches to pollution prevention in the San Diego region may generate new insights about the culture of interagency collaboration across jurisdictions. This new insight may or may not translate directly into a form useful to policy-makers and planners. It may simply add to our knowledge of organizational theory or paradigm shifting in environmental policy...and this is ok.

In the "hard" sciences (e.g., chemistry, physics, biology), basic research is also defined as systematic investigation aimed at gaining greater knowledge or understanding of some particular object (process, event, structure, etc.). There is no imperative in basic research to make the new knowledge directly relevant to some kind of application (cleaning up the air, making pesticides less dangerous, increasing the productivity of agriculture).

Applied Research

Neuman (2000, 504) defines applied research as "research that attempts to solve a concrete problem or address a specific policy question and that has a direct, practical application" (Neuman 2000, 504). Examples of applied research approaches include action research, social impact assessment, and evaluation research (Neuman 2000, chap. 2). Many students in the Senior Sequence adopt a form of action research, and this is ok. One student did work that examied the role of community mobilization in the upgrading of a squatter settlement in Tijuana. She participated with community groups in building housing and public infrastructure ( a method sometimes referred to as participant observation). Moreover, she shared the lessons she extracted from her field research with the community groups themselves with the aim to help them improve their chances of success. We encourage this kind of civically-engaged collaborative research, as long as it does not become mere advocacy devoid of scholarship. We should emphasize here that basic research is potentially just as meritoriuous as action research. We do not value one more than the other in the Senior Sequence.

Action Reseach. The acceptability of action research as a legitimate method in social science has gained ground in recent years. Neuman describes this method as follows:

Action research is applied research that treats knowledge as a form of power and abolishes the line between research and social action. There are several types of action research, but most share common characteristics: Those who are being studied participate in the research process; research incorporates ordinary or popular knowledge; research focuses on power with a goal of empowerment; research seeks to raise consciousness or increase awareness; and research is tied directly to political action. (Neuman 2000, 25)

Many natural, physical, and life scientists are also placing greater emphasis on the importance of research geared to linking knowledge to action. The National Research Council, for instance, has published a major document calling for the creation of "knowledge-action collaboratives" that promote the linkage of science and technology to policy and planning for sustainable development. The NRC report argues that we need to be doing a much better job linking academia, government and the private sector in collaborative research partnerships (National Research Council 1999, chap. 6). Another interesting text that speaks to this issues is titled, Ivory Bridges: Connecting Science and Society (Sonnert 2002).

Social Impact Studies, and Evaluation Research
These two forms of applied research are difficult to do in the limited time frame you have for your study. We recommend that you do not attempt to do a social impact study or evaluation on your own. "On your own" means you are the one inventing the metrics (indicators, values, etc.) for measurement. More than likely, you will discover that you don't have the necessary expertise, time or resources to do the job properly. In order to gauge the impact of something, or to evaluate a particular program or policy, you must have significant knowledge of the elements involved, and of the tools available for measurement (e.g., cost-benefit analysis). However, if you are involved in a social impact or evaluation study as part of your internship you may be able to weave some of its results into your Senior Thesis. Also, if you have a strong interest in evaluation one approach would be to study how a particular agency goes about doing an evaluation. This would allow you as the scholar to ask questions such as how did the agency construct its criteria (performance-based measures), what is the role of expert verses popular (off the street) knowledge, among other things.

References cited above

National Research Council, Board on Sustainable Development. 1999. Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability. Washington D.C., National Academy Press. <http://www.nap.edu>.

Sonnert, Gerhard, with Gerald Holton. 2002. Ivory Bridges: Connecting Science and Society. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

On the Meaning of the Terms research and theory

Let me try and clarify what is meant by the terms "research" and "theory." Lets deal with research first. Simply put, research is scholarly or scientific inquiry. It ties together theory, methods and data in the thorough study of some object. People engage in research for a number of reasons: (1) to explore, (2) to describe, (3) to explain, and to promote change.

There are several major types of Research Design:

1. Basic

2. Applied (policy-useful)

3. Evaluation (assessment-appraisal)

4. Action oriented (critical)

The research you do for the senior sequence can be crafted to meet any one or combination of the above goals. Its your choice. Now on to the question of theory.

What does the term "theory" mean anyway?

Andrew Sayer (1993) provides a useful definition of theory as an examined conceptualization of some object. From this standpoint, theories are composed of concepts and statements of relationships. And to theorize means to prescribe a particular way of conceptualizing something.

Concepts are abstract elements representing classes of phenomena within the field of study.

Example 1: the concepts relevant to a theory of juvenile delinquency would include juvenile and delinquency for starters; other relevant concepts--peer group, social class, ethnicity.

Example 2: the concepts relevant to a theory of deindustrialization would include, for example, restructuring, the new international division of labor and the global assembly line.

NOTE: "Conceptual systems concern not only what we (think we can) observe, or what we think exists yet cannot observe, but what we can do and how we can do it. Consequently, it may be wise to avoid thinking of knowledge as attempting to "represent" or "mirror" the world like a photograph. A better analogy may be that of a map or recipe or instruction manual, which provide means by which we can do things in the world or "cope" with events" (Sayer, 1993: 59)

What is the difference between "theory" and "description"?

This question is often asked by beginning researchers. The answer, as Strauss and Corbin (1990: 29) point out, comes down to two main points:

Student Researchers in the Senior Sequence help grow the Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC).

Students in the Senior Sequence play an vital value-adding role in the Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC). The RWBC is a collaborative network of university and community-based partners dedicated to enabling sustainable city-region development. We promote multidisciplinary research and service learning aimed at understanding how problems of environment and development interrelate across local, regional and global scales.

The RWBC focuses on the Southern California-Northern Baja California transborder region--especially the San Diego-Tijuana city-region and coastal zone. RWBC partners come from academia, industry, government, and community-based organizations. Through a student-mentor, partnership-driven approach, the RWBC explicitly integrates issues of equity, environmental stewardship, and economic efficiency (the so-called 3 Es of sustainable development). In the process, we are weaving together innovative advances in three domains: Information and Communications Technology, New Regionalism, and Sustainability Science.

The RWBC is building a trusted Internet-based research portal and toolkit (i.e., workbench) to facilitate problem-driven projects that require region-wide data integration and information sharing. Currently we are placing a major emphasis on building planning and decision-support tools, inlcuding: GIS, Quality of Life Indicators, on-line interactive mapping and 3D visualization. The RWBC is encouraging students to study water, toxics, housing, colonias, and regional planning as priorities for linking research and action. Our aim is to create more efficient, interactive, and equitable methods for integrating university-based science with the fast-changing needs of industry, government, non-profit and community-based organizations. The RWBC's tight linkage with the Senior Sequence is creating a platform for innovative education, outreach and workforce development.

The seven fundamental precepts guiding the RWBC, are also good points for students to take into account when formulating their Senior Research Projects:

Seven fundamental precepts guiding the RWBC

As it evolves, the RWB website will contain projects, searchable topic maps, data guides, tutorials, and interactive tools for conceptualizing, designing, conducting, and sharing multidisciplinary research. Three broad objectives of the Regional Workbench are to:

• Provide a mode of communication among University, Industry, Government and Community-based Organizations, thereby enabling an interactive networking of researchers with the end-users of research;
• Integrate research with action for social learning and sustainable development in the San Diego-Tijuana global city-region and beyond (targeting regional planning and policy)
• Develop a series of integrated "topic maps" to facilitate multidisciplinary research (a "topic map" is defined here as coherent conceptual domain with associated archives, professional and institutional contacts, data sources, data mining tools, metrics, methods and annotated guides for inquiry and action).

The RWB aims to add value to, not replicate, existing data warehouses and regional/geographic information systems. The RWB's objective is to build synergy through partnerships by leveraging resources, capitalizing on the expertise of participants, and enabling an integrated approach to research, education, outreach and training. University students and faculty, together with community partners, build the RWB's website. Students gain hands-on experience in a manner that emphasizes civic-minded workforce development as well as multidisciplinary scholarship.