Inaccessibility and other complaints

I don't want to forget the current issues I have with academia in general so I will write it here.

I was reminded of some of my pet peeves with psychology and scholarship in general whilst researching pointless articles for a pointless research report that I am writing for a pretty much pointless class.  I am not saying all of this out of laziness, although I don't want to write the paper... at all... but in actuality... this is pointless because the research report writing exercise, as relevant as it may be to psychology, is not relevant to this particular paper.

This is what I have noticed and been annoyed by in research so far:

1. The inaccessibility it:  How is it that people have 3 options -- 1. pay a ridiculous fee 2. be a part of a university (or other 'higher' education/exclusive clique) community 3. read a watered down version of various studies summaries that barely scratch the surface of the actual findings in a magazine article between the pages of adverts and celebrity gossip.  Where some crock Ph. d bastardizes an explanation and provides and over-simplified sentence to explain away a phenomenon.  It isn't fair.  Why must articles be so FRIGGIN' expensive to access?  Why must databases be ridiculously complicated to navigate?  Would a "lay" person be able to even find the results and if they do -- could they pick through the pretentious, unclear, over-complicated article to get the main point and improve their lives and widen their minds?  I think Google scholar is doing some good for this issue, but it's still expensive, dense and difficult to access... Just sayin.  

2. The pretentiousness of it:  Are academics making everything so complicated so they feel smart?  Are they purposefully leaving people out?  Would it be THAT difficult to create a journal that puts together important findings for a reasonable price (in print) or to be accessed online for free that may help improve normal people's lives in a way that is simple to read, without leaving out necessary results and information?  Isn't that the reason that people do research...?  To improve lives?

3. The inapplicability of it:  I am beginning to think that the statement "contributes to the body of knowledge" should be struck from usage, unless accompanied with an active plan for change.  What is the point of researching something and then suggesting paths and plans for further research instead of implementing policies to help alleviate the problem?  Seriously guys... it's frustrating as.  There should be a section added to the standard psychology journal article after the Discussion section that has Applications or suggestions for improving the lives of individuals.  I wonder how many research psychologists spend time in the community implementing the things they find... instead of just getting published and getting giddy with every additional citation they receive.  I know some studies just support knowledge for knowledge's sake -- but I really do not think this should be the case for psychology.  People with access to the information (through education) should not be the only one's who know these things.   Should they?  I am not saying ALL scholars don't implement their findings, but as far as I can gather, most do not.

It is a sad day when the majority of social workers and people in human service arenas are not the people who are educated or passionate about their field.  This is where psychologist should come in ... in the classroom's all across the world, working side by side with social workers ... not just providing the information to the small percentage of people who can afford and have the educational level to access the information.

Applications:

In the future, I should quit complaining and MAKE this journal.  It should place emphasis on including research from people who aren't only writing about issues, but who are working to alleviate the problem.  It should be readable, accessible and free to all who desire it.  

So there.

Jza