I too have been hiding and watching this thread unfold with interest. It
was only until i saw Mr.Zender's post that i decided to poke my head out
and agree with his comments. I am currently using critical realism as both
an ontological and epistemological position in my thesis. To my (limited)
knowledge this is the only position where i am able to acknowledge
subjective reasoning on (and) external reality. It is quite unique in that
respect and has not been widely applied or acknowledged in design research
(correct me if i am wrong). I firmly believe that this is the way forward
for research in, on and through design as it respects and acknowledges both
the human-centered (designer) and external forces (such as
technological/environmental issues) which together dictate and shape design
practice. The design field cannot operate focusing on one without the
other. I am currently putting together a paper on this topic with a
colleague advocating why a critical realist perspective is important for
the future of design research.
Perhaps this quote may assist in providing some kind of neutral ground for
conclusion:
*“The equalizing of all kinds of knowledge in the way proposed by these
sociologists runs the real risk of leading to the sugggestion that all
forms of science are merely social constructions. Newtons and darwins
theories of the world are put on a par with conversation at the bar or
dinner party chatter. According to this view, there is no reality at all
independent of power and language. It is all social construction. Such
arguments are a kind of sociological imperialism, analogous to the
scientific imperialism they attack. Both such views rapidly depart from
common sense and an alternative approach to understanding society-nature
relations must be found*” -Dickens, P 2004, *Society and Nature,* 1st edn,
Polity, p. 19
and one last quote in context of design:
*"designers are endlessly confronted with design problems that emerge from
ideas situated on this continnuum from the objective to the
subjective*” Crouch
C, 2012,* **Doing Research in Design**,* 1 edn, Berg Publishers, p. 45
...ill scuttle back beneath the books
*Stefanie Di Russo*
PhD Student
Faculty of Design
Swinburne University
*twitter:* @stefdirusso <https://twitter.com/#!/stefdirusso>
*linkedin: public
*profile<http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stefanie-di-russo/35/16/a84>
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