This text seeks to examine, from a panoramic perspective, the complex problems in the relation between research and social transformation, centering in three dimensions that allow to understand the diverse meaning that they can take: the epistemological, the ethical, and the political. In each case, it makes explicit certain problematic in its approach, establishing the links with the other two dimensions. Finally, by introducing the discussion about “social change”, it insists in the necessity to create alternatives to the conventional development of this topic from the acceptance of the cultural differences specific to our countries. In consequence, to overcome an irreflexive interventionism, social researchers should compromise in the definition of a possible future for their regions.

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