Design research and, to some extent, designing, is widely described as
'multi-disciplinary, cross-disciplinary or interdisciplinary (or any
combination). Philosophically, conceptually and terminologically this leaves
design research in a relatively undefined state because if it is
multi/cross/inter disciplinary then by implication it does not exist as an
integrated discipline itself without some sort of proposal that it is a kind
of meta-discipline that sits above other disciplines.
Many authors refer to the domain-based nature of much design research. This
complementarity between domain and discipline is I feel a key issue. Making
a terminological and conceptual shift by exchanging 'discipline' and
'domain' appears to offer a way of resolving the above problem, and perhaps
describing the situation in a clearer fashion.
>From this perspective, Design Research is an integrated discipline
(singular) that operates in a multi-domain, cross-domain or inter-domain (or
any combination)fashion ( as opposed to the tacitly held picture that it is
a domain that operates in a multi/cross/inter disciplinary manner). This
approach offers the basis for avoiding some of the single/multiple
discipline schisms and appears to offer a single discipline basis for
clarifying many of the research and conceptual issues relating to
domain-specific and domain-free aspects of designing and designs.
Best wishes
Terry
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Dr. Terence Love
We-B Centre
School of Management Information Systems
Edith Cowan University
Churchlands, Western Australia 6030
[log in to unmask] +61 (0)8 9273 8682
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