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Applied research investigates a question with a particular practical objective. It still seeks new knowledge; the distinction from basic research concerns the aim of the investigation rather than whether it uses experiments, observations or mathematical models.^[ref]

For example, investigating how a material converts light into an electrical signal can support the design of a photodetector for a specified use. A controlled study can vary the material or illumination and compare the resulting sensitivity and noise. The intended detector supplies a practical objective, while the measured relation provides reusable knowledge.

This differs from simply assembling a known design or carrying out routine production. Equally, a practical aim does not guarantee a useful result: a sound experiment can establish that a proposed mechanism fails. Applied research and basic research can therefore share methods and inform each other without being distinguished by whether the outcome is successful.

Basic research seeks understanding of underlying phenomena without being directed at a particular practical application. Applied research instead starts from a specific practical objective. The distinction concerns the aim of the investigation: either kind can use experiments, observations and mathematical models.^[ref]

For example, investigating how an unfamiliar material responds to light can seek a general explanation of its behaviour; optimizing a particular photodetector for a specified use has an application-driven goal. The first investigation can later enable useful technology without having started as a design project. Conversely, the practical aim of the second does not remove its need for careful measurement and a testable physical explanation. These categories describe research purposes, rather than a ranking of scientific quality.

Vannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator whose 1945 report Science, the Endless Frontier by Vannevar Bush argued for sustained support of basic research and scientific training. He distinguished research aimed at general understanding from work directed toward a particular practical result, while stressing that the two activities depend on each other.

His argument concerned uncertainty as well as usefulness: the practical results of any one investigation cannot be predicted reliably, yet a continuing supply of new knowledge makes later technological development possible. He therefore proposed support for researchers and institutions rather than judging every investigation solely by an immediate product. The report links the organization of scientific work to the long-term development of engineering.^[ref]