Question

Research that has no goal beyond understanding social life and testing social theories is referred to as

Answer 1

Research that has no goal beyond understanding social life and testing such  theories is referred to as basic sociology. This is a branch of sociology  which has a very specific outreach and focuses on a very small subfield of all sociological phenomena. 

Answer 2

Research that has no goal beyond understanding social life and testing social theories is referred to as  basic sociology