Dear Mauricio,
Thank you for your message.
I find it useful to distinguish between:
1. Data collected and processed to make it accessible for research and other purposes involving prediction. An example of such collected and processed data would be ultimate tensile strength plots of different materials, or tables of customer's attitudes. In a way, I don't see this kind of work as research, rather it is routine measurement. In fact that is also the view taken by OECD (2002), pp. 30-50. in the Frascati Manual that many important universities round the world use as the basis for defining research. Same applies to humanities and much of design and art data collection activity in which the OECD position is: 'Projects of a routine nature, in which social scientists bring established methodologies, principles and models of the social sciences to bear on a particular problem, cannot be classified as research.' (OECD (2002) p.48).
and
2. The creation of theory models that predict dynamics of behaviours (of physical entities, people, societies, groups, theoretical entities, behaviours of theories themselves (most useful!), systems, virtual entities and abstract concepts). These provide the necessary novelty and applicability that OECD defines as research. In this realm, it is often easier to create theory models that predict the behaviours of people, societies and groups with respect to designed outputs than it is to predict behaviour of physical entities. Also, the behaviours of the former (people using designed outcomes) are often more amenable to hard science analysis than soft analysis, compared to the behaviours of some physical entities (e.g fluid dynamics behaviours).
From observation, the reality is that design researchers in design fields other than engineering design could be undertaking design research relative to their design field specialities in a similar structural manner to that undertaken in engineering design. The research methods are already available to identify and make and test theories to predict behaviours of outputs and outcomes. They have in fact been already in use for decades in some design fields (Advertising for example). The issue seems to be more that appropriate research methods and are not yet taught in many design fields, or widely used during design processes.
I suggest precision of prediction is a different issue, and not fundamentally related to the design properties. Seems to me that the precision needed in predicting behaviours relating to a design is more a matter of the professional responsibilities laid on the designer. It seems the more a designer is financially and legally responsible for their design and its outcomes, the more precision is needed in the predictions - and hence the need for better research.
Reference:
OECD (2002) Frascati Manual - Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development. OECD: Paris.
http://www.oecd.org/innovation/inno/frascatimanualproposedstandardpracticeforsurveysonresearchandexperimentaldevelopment6thedition.htm
Best wishes,
Terry
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Dr Terence Love
PhD(UWA), BA(Hons) Engin. PGCEd, FDRS, AMIMechE, PMACM, MISI
Honorary Fellow
IEED, Management School
Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
ORCID 0000-0002-2436-7566
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Western Australia 6030
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-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of G. Mauricio Mejía
Sent: Monday, 9 March 2015 6:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Research through design
Dear Terry and Çiğdem,
Thanks for your recommendations.
Terry, I find the concept of prediction useful. It seems to me that the concept of prediction may not apply in all design variables. When we are talking about behaviors of materials, for example, design knowledge certainly may predict with precision the behavior of a design artifact in the physical world. If we are talking about human behaviors in a service design artifact, design knowledge might be less precise to predict.
G. Mauricio Mejía, PhD
Associate professor University of Caldas, Colombia @mmejiaramirez
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