Good point Brita,
As you know, I have been focusing on culture for a long time. If I want to summarize my experiences, specially for people who like to connect design research to culture, following issues can be helpful.
There are three main trends in defining culture, when people like to use "culture" in a "non social science" research domain:
One: Using descriptive definitions from social science and cultural studies. Problem with these definitions: To subjective, difficult terminology (sometimes there are similar terms in different disciplines which have quite different meanings in each context), usually not compatible with a practice based domain like design.
Two: Using cultural models like Hofstede , Hall etc. Problem: Static way of thinking about culture. Not originally developed for a discipline like design. Advantage: Very good "can opener".
Three: Empirical approach in which there is not any subjective definition, the culture is defined based on the case or context that researcher is working on. You can do the empirical study, observe people and see how their regional or country specific characteristics may impact the design issue that you are searching for.
For your subject, I think Andre's recommendations really work for finding the first set of references. I think what you are doing is really related to the acculturation. However, remember that sticking to a subjective definition from another domain will not work for all parts of your study! Define culture according to your case and context, and don't forget that there are not clear boundaries between culture and regional specific parameters like economy and politics.
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Bijan Aryana
PhD Candidate
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
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From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Brita Fladvad Nielsen [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 10:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: On the definition of culture for, Does Culture Matter for Product Design?
Hi,
I just wanted to throw in a note on culture regarding dynamic identities and merging cultures. I am researching the introduction of sustainable non-food items in refugee camps and it's relation to people's feeling of self-reliance, and how this again relates to technology acceptance and social/economic sustainability.
If you read literature on how cultures that emerge when people are migrating (ex. Refugee anthropology or psychology of migration), it becomes evident that culture today is more and more a dynamic issue; people create new identities in the borderlines with other cultures and when crossing them; it is not as easy as "designing for A culture". Introducing a new product or system also contributes to changing that culture.
If anyone has comments on this, or literature recommendations, I would appreciate it.
Kind regards,
Brita Fladvad Nielsen
PhD Candidate,
Department of Product Design, NTNU
-----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 Robert Harland
Sent: 15. desember 2011 10:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: On the definition of culture for, Does Culture Matter for Product Design?
Perhaps we on the list should be thankful that any efforts made to define 'Design' are seemingly dwarfed by Raymond Williams' (1983) claim that the word 'Culture' is one of the '... two or three most complicated words in the English language'.
For those interested in his short essay on the evolution of the word 'Culture' since 1483, an excerpt from his book 'Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society' can be found at:
http://www.trinityhistory.org/AP/RWilliamscult_pop.pdf
Robert.
WILLIAMS, R. 1983. Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society, London, Fontana Press.
On 15 Dec 2011, at 02:08, Don Norman wrote:
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Culture is a frequently defined term, but defined differently each time.
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