This chapter outlines the key purposes of health professions education research (HPER). It discusses past and future trends in HPER methods. The primary focus of educational research is the discovery of generalisable knowledge to benefit other researchers, with any resulting applications at the national and even international levels. HPER is a highly applied field continuously looking to make improvements to educational practice and policy. Two key purposes of HPER can be seen as sitting at opposite ends of the same continuum: to generate new knowledge; and to improve education. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book helps the readers to summarise different understandings of research impact, explain the philosophical underpinnings of different impact approaches and critique research impact pathways in HPER. It evaluates the key enablers and barriers of HPER impact, and outlines different ways of assessing HPER impact.