Mark
...I'd therefore like to offer up the potentially controversial position that PhD's
that include practice as a research method should, preferably, be supervised
by academics that have considerable experience as practitioners: plus a PhD
of course!...
Are you saying that there are examples - in your experience - of non practitioners supervising? I find this quite incredible - theory is is what theory doesn't as me old Yorkshire mum used to say. I can understand supervision from someone without a PhD - but only in a secondary role.
Robin
PR Hodge MA, BA (Hons), PG Dip (Media), FAETC, MIDI
Fellow of the Royal Society
Faculty Head of Collaborative Courses
Programme Director Master of Design and Communication
TEL: ext 75572
Foyle Arts
University of Ulster at Magee
L/derry
-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design on behalf of Dr Mark Evans
Sent: Tue 10/11/2009 16:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: PhD supervision of practice as a research method?
Having spent my early career as a practitioner; employed practice in my own
PhD (industrial design); and now supervise/examine PhD's that include practice
as a research method; I reflected on my experiences in the preparation of a
paper for the 2009 International Conference of the DRS Special Interest Group
on Experiential Knowledge (http://www.experientialknowledge.org/). When
discussing the use of practice in research, I made the following comments in
the abstract of my paper:
"When considering the application of such methods, it is necessary to ask two
key questions: can the process/outcomes supply robust data and does the
researcher have the necessary capability as a practitioner to enable
generalisations to be made. The latter issue brings into question the need for
appropriate supervision, as judgements must be made on the capability of the
researcher and quality/relevance of creative output i.e. do their supervisors
need expertise in practice?".
I have seen examples of poor practice that has contributed to PhD's in
industrial/product design and have no problems articulating the deficiencies
and impact this has on the research method. Unfortunately, their supervisors
were unable to see this. I therefore have concerns that this may be a
significant issue in the field of industrial/product design. It may also be an
issue for other disciplines but have no evidence to substantiate this.
I'd therefore like to offer up the potentially controversial position that PhD's
that include practice as a research method should, preferably, be supervised
by academics that have considerable experience as practitioners: plus a PhD
of course!
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