Abstract
Design research draws on different research paradigms from both the sciences and the humanities. Two empirical works about design research at the doctoral level demonstrated the emergence of a research paradigm distinct from research in the sciences and the humanities. The first empirical work was a comparative study of ten Ph.D. programmes in design. The selected cases were from different geographical-cultural contexts. The study of each case was divided into three parts: the study of the programme, the study of a selected Ph.D. thesis and an interview with the coordinator of the programme or with a Ph.D. supervisor. The second empirical work was the study of thirteen research cases that included design project(s). The cases were selected from Ph.D. programmes that permitted the inclusion of design project(s) as an integral part of the research. The study of each case was divided into two parts. The first part was the study of the thesis. The second part was the study of the research process. In the second part of the study a visual method was adopted. The participants were asked to represent their research processes and results in a structural schema. The main findings demonstrated the existence of different aspects in some of the selected cases that distinguished design research from research in the sciences and the humanities. These aspects were: the process developed for the definition of the research problem/question; the nature of the research process which was solution- focused rather than problem-solving; the abductive and constructive thinking that guided the progress of the research; the combination of design project(s) and empirical works as a part of the methodology of the research; and the different kinds of knowledge developed.
Citation
Saikaly, F. (2004) Designerly Research: Towards Design's Own Research Paradigm., in Redmond, J., Durling, D. and de Bono, A (eds.), Futureground - DRS International Conference 2004, 17-21 November, Melbourne, Australia. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2004/researchpapers/153
Designerly Research: Towards Design's Own Research Paradigm.
Design research draws on different research paradigms from both the sciences and the humanities. Two empirical works about design research at the doctoral level demonstrated the emergence of a research paradigm distinct from research in the sciences and the humanities. The first empirical work was a comparative study of ten Ph.D. programmes in design. The selected cases were from different geographical-cultural contexts. The study of each case was divided into three parts: the study of the programme, the study of a selected Ph.D. thesis and an interview with the coordinator of the programme or with a Ph.D. supervisor. The second empirical work was the study of thirteen research cases that included design project(s). The cases were selected from Ph.D. programmes that permitted the inclusion of design project(s) as an integral part of the research. The study of each case was divided into two parts. The first part was the study of the thesis. The second part was the study of the research process. In the second part of the study a visual method was adopted. The participants were asked to represent their research processes and results in a structural schema. The main findings demonstrated the existence of different aspects in some of the selected cases that distinguished design research from research in the sciences and the humanities. These aspects were: the process developed for the definition of the research problem/question; the nature of the research process which was solution- focused rather than problem-solving; the abductive and constructive thinking that guided the progress of the research; the combination of design project(s) and empirical works as a part of the methodology of the research; and the different kinds of knowledge developed.