Ken, I am in total agreement with what you are saying. I never stated
"that just being a
member of a particular community and having first hand experience
with its life" . . . "guarantee[s] that this person will produce
research."
To start with, I was just making a comment, hoping comments from list
memebers' experiences could be valuable to guide discussions, or even to
learn more about other people's views.
I was refering though, much more to research on design theories, than to
research in the process of designing a product. But still, it all comes
down to the same point: I don't think one can state firmly anything about
people or cultures, when you have not had the opportunity to interact
with them and learn about their environments first hand. But as Ken says:
JUST this interaction would not be enough either.
Maria.
Ken Friedman wrote:
> Lubomir,
>
> Now I am confused. I have read all the posts again. I do not think
> Maria, Dick, or Jacques have stated anything other than what I
> stated. In supporting their views, I believe I simply supported the
> appropriate engagement with empirical reality.
>
> Dick stated that we must engage empirical reality to do research on
> empirical issues. Maria stated that direct exposure to the clients
> for whom we design, and direct interaction with the end-users of
> design enables us to do appropriate research and to design better.
> Jacques said that he admires Pattie Moore for the five years she
> spent playing the role of an elderly person so that she could
> understand the needs of the elderly from a foundation of direct
> experience.
>
> In this, they argue for the same faithful adherence to good method
> that is found in the work of all the scientists whom I cited, and
> dozens more.
>
> The argument they made, and mine, does not call for direct engagement
> in empirical reality and the human world for all research or for all
> purposes. It requires it for those kinds of research that seek to
> generate reports about what human beings EXPERIENCE.
>
> Perhaps I have misread Maria, Jacques, or Dick. I'll be happy to have
> their response. But I do not think they claimed "that just being a
> member of a particular community and having first hand experience
> with its life" . . . "guarantee[s] that this person will produce
> research." Moreover, I don't think their posts asserted that "each
> member of the community is a great expert, researcher, and theoretic
> on its life"?
>
> To which groups of posts did you address your response?
>
> Ken
|