Wim,
I introduced the terms "basic," "applied," and "clinical" research in a
paper I delivered at the London Design Council on design research a
couple of years ago. The terms, of course, are drawn from other areas
of academic research, but they are quite useful, I believe, for the
design community. The terms are rather standard and I attempted to
explain them in that paper in relation to design. The paper has
circulated in the UK and elsewhere, but it will be formally published in
Design Issues in the very near future--coming out, I believe, in
September.
I prefer these terms to the "in-by-about-and through" that surfaced some
time ago--and the author of the latter terms has since indicated some
surprise that they were taken quite so seriously by the community . . .
the terms served a special purpose in his address, but they are not
entirely satisfactory for general use.
Dick
Richard Buchanan
Carnegie Mellon University
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