Praxisrelevanz

Praxisrelevanz denotes the degree to which a scientific finding, theory, method, or instrument has direct applicability in professional practice or everyday life. The term is used across disciplines (e.g., education, psychology, medicine, engineering) to emphasize practical outcomes, implementation feasibility, and usefulness for practitioners, policymakers, or end users.

In research design, praxisrelevanz is often considered alongside validity and reliability; some frameworks distinguish between theoretical relevance and praxisrelevance, the latter focusing on external validity, transferability, and real-world impact. Measures include assessing effect sizes in terms of practical outcomes, cost-effectiveness analyses, feasibility studies, user acceptability, and implementation potential.

Pragmatic trials are a related concept in medicine, designed to evaluate effectiveness in real-world conditions rather than under idealized circumstances. In education and social sciences, praxisrelevanz involves assessing how results inform guidelines, interventions, or curricula and whether practitioners can adopt them within existing constraints (time, resources, organizational culture).

Critics argue that prioritizing praxisrelevanz can undervalue basic research or long-term theoretical contributions, and that practical relevance is context-dependent. Proponents counter that researchers have ethical and social responsibilities to produce findings that improve practice and policy, and that navigation between theory and practice can be fostered through co-creation with stakeholders and iterative testing.

See also: external validity, pragmatic trials, applicability, transferability, knowledge translation.