i fully agree with you,
parag,
having worked on both sides of the divide and having written much on the
distinction you make.  there is of course something to be said for providing
empirical support for a proposed design, even gathering some data to select
among several alternatives, but this support is always hypothetical,
speculative, conjectural as we cannot observe the future in which a design
is to work
klaus 

-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Parag
Deshpande
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 11:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Design as Research?

Dear Ken and everyone,

I am enjoying reading your posts. Thank you very much.

I am a designer (architect) working in the field computer science as a
researcher and since last few years, I have been trying to examine
similarities and differences between research and design. To me, the notion
of design as research is problematic because of following reasons - 

1.	Research entails inquiry or examination where the researcher is an
observer. Researcher analyzes what he observes, attempts to make sense of it
and then reports it to the research community. The researcher does not
interfere with what is being observed since the objective of research is to
explain the phenomenon as it is. The researchers then reports on his view on
what has been observed and thus contributes to the knowledge base. 

2.	The designer however does not work in the same manner. The activity
of
design involves active participation of the designer in shaping the
artifact. Therefore, unlike the researcher who simply stands aside, observes
and reports 'what it is', the designer actively involves herself to shape
the artifact so that it is 'how it is ought to be'.

While both research as well as the activity of design generates knowledge,
the knowledge generated in case of an activity of design is limited to the
designer who actively participates in the process of design. This knowledge
is often implicit, unarticulated and specific to a design situation and
therefore can not be communicated, analyzed, tested or criticized which is
fundamental to the activity of research.

Although, I do not have any evidence at the moment, but rather than design
as research, research as design seems plausible to me as like design,
research too begins with an ill-defined problem (question) that evolves and
becomes well defined through the process of research. 

Regards,

parag
PhD candidate,
IDC, UL, Ireland