I received this message from Paul Rodgers, who is happy for me to
forward it you you. Paul mentions Kate Fox who I feel is necessary
reading for any postgraduate intending to study in England, partly
because she gives an understanding of English people but also because
she demonstrates excellent research in action in a very personal and
accessible way.
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Rodgers, Paul wrote:
Chris,
As a reviewer for DRS2008, I would not mind a paper written in the first
person. In my experience, however, journals and conferences that I
publish in have a tacit expectation and preference for the third person.
Certainly in the field of design ethnography (where I dabble) it is
perfectly acceptable to write in the first person. I advise my
students to look at the work of Kate Fox (a critically respected
anthropologist).
See for example her book Watching the English. Also in this area is the
work of Larry Bucciarelli (check spelling?) and his fantastic and well
referenced design ethnography studies of the likes of Xerox Parc
engineers (Designing Engineers, The MIT Press)
Many of my students have also experimented writing in what could be
described as "another person" - possibly the "second person" (although I
am not sure if this exists?). In this type of writing, the narrator (or
voice) has been created by the author. For example, my design students
have taken on the voice of an antique VW Beetle in her dissertation
(describing what theit life was like from the perspective of a Beetle
from post war Germany to 1970s California), and others have adopted
actors in their writings of subjects covering thing like theatre design,
AI and design, design security, etc.
Hope this is useful.
Best,
Paul
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