Proposing a research strategy for doing policy-oriented researches

A large body of social researches in Iran in purpose of providing techniques for solving various social problems, funded by governmental organizations, is done by researchers in the field of social sciences. Most of these research projects, however, fail to provide specific practical techniques for policy-makers. One of the sources of this failure, this article claims, lies in not gearing a research strategy towards providing a practical policy. This study mainly aims to propose an alternative research strategy, which facilitates presenting specific and practical techniques. This strategy has three underlying principles: considering the variables that their change and manipulation is possible under the respective authority and resources. Measuring the level of effectiveness of variables in the form of competing hypotheses, and focusing on comparative approach instead of conducting (non-comparative) social surveys. To further demonstrate the suggested strategy, this article critically reviews some samples of policy-oriented researches done in a specific research domain (promotion of citizenship ethics in major cities). This paper also explains a sample of policy-oriented research in the same research domain that leads to practical distinct techniques in the research domain by employing the proposed research strategy.