Ken,
To better understand what evidence is, how to obtain evidence, and how to judge bad evidence from good, I frankly had to go back to school at age 40. A career graphic designer and educator, many of the opportunities I found in my research required a high level of innovation, which in turn required a deep and broad understanding of evidence. Long story short, I'm working on a PhD in social and behavioral sciences in a school of public health, which in my program covers psychology, sociology, anthropology, psycho-social theory, epidemiology, and biostatistics. In so many ways, I'm studying design: design of interventions, design of research studies, design of evaluations, and even design of theories and models. As you well know, the social scientific lit on quant and qual methods is massive, and design education has benefited from this literature--particularly UCD/UX/HCI/IA/ID--as well as the critical studies lit of the humanities, which also permeates the social sciences.
Among social scientists, there is wide agreement on what constitutes evidence (though the schism between quant and qual remains strong), yet the nuances, caveats, and exceptions seem endless. To really understand why a certain measure is better than another in a particular case, requires a fair amount of understanding of different forms of validity and validity testing. Whether quant or qual, the methods are complex but certainly not out of reach.
I relate this story simply to convey what I'm doing to answer the questions you pose--the same questions I posed for myself over 3 years ago. Whether my route is appropriate for others is for debate. Honestly, though, I'm less interested in that debate and more interested in getting what I need from my program of study so I can do my work effectively and reliably. I've found studying social and behavioral sciences at the doctoral level to be exceedingly helpful in that regard.
Best,
Michael
Michael Schmidt, Associate Professor
Graphic Design
The University of Memphis
Sent from my iPad
> On Nov 7, 2014, at 8:02 AM, "Ken Friedman" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Dear Terry,
>
> Theory in important. I argue for the importance and value of design theory in several dozen articles, papers, keynotes, and book chapters over the past two decades. Rather than discuss the issue of theory here, I point to my Academia.edu page. You¡¯ll find some of the articles there:
>
> https://swinburne.academia.edu/KenFriedman
>
> I do not argue against the value of theory. I arguing for the value of evidence. This thread opened with a question on evidence in design and design research. It is sometimes useful to ask new questions.
>
> This is not a debate on the relative merits of theory and evidence. We need both. There is nothing ¡°one-eyed¡± about asking how people see the issue of evidence. If you¡¯d rather talk about theory, start a new thread. If you want to state your views on the relationship between evidence and theory, state your views ¡ª please don¡¯t misstate my views. But I am not planning to debate theory today. Again, I argue for the value and necessity of theory in design research. Just read what I have written.
>
> For now, I want to ask a few questions about evidence. I¡¯d like to know how different list subscribers answer these questions. If you don¡¯t think the questions are useful or important, my suggestion is to start a new thread while you let folks speak to the nature of evidence in this thread.
>
> Here are my questions to the list. I¡¯d like to hear what people have to say:
>
> What is the nature of evidence in design and design research? What kinds of evidence do we need? How can we gather this evidence? How should we deploy it and put it to work in professional practice? Can you suggest some useful published examples worth reading to shed light on these questions?
>
> Yours,
>
> Ken
>
> Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | Editor-in-Chief | Éè¼Æ She Ji. The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation | Published by Elsevier in Cooperation with Tongji University Press | Launching in 2015
>
> Chair Professor of Design Innovation Studies | College of Design and Innovation | Tongji University | Shanghai, China ||| University Distinguished Professor | Centre for Design Innovation | Swinburne University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia
>
> Email [log in to unmask] | Academia http://swinburne.academia.edu/KenFriedman | D&I http://tjdi.tongji.edu.cn
>
>
>
>
>
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