Dialectical Perspectives on Empirical Research

The implications of dialectics for two aspects of social psychological research are considered. (a) Possible changes in methods and designs, and (b) The rationale for doing research. The emancipatory characteristics of the dialectical perspective should reduce mystification of the relationship between theory and practical problems. It is concluded that the development of a systematic dialectical social psychology depends on two related occurrences: the development of new models of community/research interaction and a new definition of social psychology.