Hi Emma,
> Thank you for all the replies to my post on research and practice.
As a design academic who designs and researches, I see research AS
practice, just a different kind of practice to that in which I engage
when I design. You might read outside the design literature for
different 'understandings' about research (I find the idea of
'definitions' problematic for reasons which are again currently
playing out on the list in relation to what design is).
As you are focusing on how vis com design academics and practitioners
do/understand/use/value research, it might be useful to step outside
the self-referencing community of which we are part. I suggest a
couple of readings I have used to introduce undergrad adult education
students to the idea of research and inquiry – what are these things,
how are they used, where do they overlap and differ, and their
respective value to 'practitioners' (because after all, 'practice' is
something that all professionals, including designers and design
academics do – for example, teachers practice). Note however, I am
not simply replacing 'little r' with 'inquiry' and retaining the high
moral ground to 'big r' research. As Gunnar suggests, the meaning
individuals make of these things varies across disciplines and
institutional epistemological camps.
As readers may note, the epistemological perspective on which I draw
is research as a social practice of knowledge production that uses
predominantly qualitative research methods. The references are:
Crotty, M. 1998, The foundations of social research: meaning and
perspective in the research process,Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest (the
introduction, pp. 1–17 is useful).
Mason, J. 2002, Qualitative researching, 2nd edn, Sage, London.
cheers, teena
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