Hi Chris, Sukanta and others,

Do the problems with teaching and learning and devising 'methodology' need
to occur at all?

From experience, it is amazingly helpful, insightful and clearer for
doctoral students if they focus only on justifying their use of specific
methods for specific tasks and mostly drop the generic ideas of methodology
and 'research methods'.

In other words, this requires candidates to be very clear to distinguish
between and justify their use of  specific data collection methods, analysis
methods, practice methods, design methods, conceptual methods and any other
methods that they use.

In fact, it seems to need very little else than this.

The effect is very similar to the Islamic education tool of insisting that
there is a single mistake in everything that one creates. To do this
requires learning in tremendously greater depth. For example, try to draw a
circle with a single mistake. Doing so requires much deeper study and
understanding of what it is to be a circle than drawing a circular circle.

Similarly, to focus tightly on justifying one's choice of specific methods
for specific tasks (as distinct from the current epistemological confusion
and conceptual muddiness associated with 'research methods' and
'methodology') requires more learning, more understanding and more clarity
about methodological and theoretical framework issues than is usually gained
by the study of research methodology. It requires being correct and accurate
on the basis of sound knowledge rather than being rhetorically dazzling with
loose concepts.

I'd be interested if others have tried this.

Best wishes,

Terry

===
Chris Rust wrote:
Actually for us in design, and any field that is seeking to define 
itself as well as advance its knowledge, methodology can have three 
meanings. My colleague and student, Simon Bowen, has coined the 
expression "methodology squared" to describe the problem of research 
that sets out to produce a methodology for practice or other research. 
The methods of the research in hand may be very similar to those of the 
future practice but the methodology will be very different.