Research methodology¶
Lecture 1¶
Taper mes notes ici
Lecture 2¶
Today, we are defining some concepts that might be useful for the writing of our thesis.
State of the art in design research vs Community of practice¶
The state of the art is a litterature review of everything that is relevant to our research. Summary of what research already exists and connecting them together to make connection and discover relationships. It helps to position yourself on the topic.
Diagram: Community of practice.
In design, the community of practice is a translation/adaptation/extension of the state of the art, but adapted to practices (design practices). It can also be called Community of References, Learning Community or Community of References.
| STATE OF THE ART | COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE |
|---|---|
| Research Method | Research Method |
| Theory | Research Method |
| Field | Field = Domain |
| Relevance & Rigour | Relevance & Value |
| Written | Written & Visual |
| Process = Product | Process = Product |
| Position | Position |
| Contribution to the field | Contribution to the field of practice |
Table: State of the art and community of practice comparison.
As opposed to state of the art, community of practice can be written but can also be a visual! It can be a graph, a diagram, a grid... It can also combine text for additional information. The role of the community of practice is to :
- explain how the creative practice works, its defined network of relations and collaborations, its working and professional environments.
- give a glimpse on the urges, influences, and fascinations that drive the practitioner in his creative practice.
- highlight an area of expertise where the practice’s contribution to the field becomes apparent both in a long term and in a short term perspective.
- contextualise the research/practice.
- it is often referred as an equivalent of Literature Review in Design Research.
Example of community of practice: 21ST CENTURY TAXONOMY OF EMERGING ARCHITECTURE by Alejandro Zaera-Polo.
Circles of observation¶
Critical distance is the distance required to reflect back on our actions. In some cases, research and practice are zero-distance, so the designer is practicing and researching at the same time. In other cases, there is a little distance between the practice and the research: the designer has to take a small step back on his research to start designing.
Image: Circles of observation
Framework¶
This is the first stage of the developpement of a thesis. It is what we consider that we know, in the shape of numbers (quantitative) or trends (qualitative). It helps define the issue. The distinction between framework content and state of the art is that the first one is something we are sure of and with established data, while the second is still some active research.
Scientific interest question¶
It is the problematic you are trying to answer to. Formulate your research in one question.
State of the art¶
In the state of the art, we need to descibe the previous research but most importantly explain why they are important to our research.
Thesis statement¶
"The Purhyphae Project explores... by.. creating... through...".
Research aim and objectives¶
Discuss the expected results, hopes. The main aim has to be broken down into a series of smaller objectives that are not necessarily related. They have to have measurable outcomes. They often work as project milestones. Those objectives have to be SMART.
- Specific – be precise about what you are going to do.
- Measurable –you will know when you have reached your goal.
- Achievable – Don’t attempt too much. A less ambitious but completed objective is better than an over-ambitious one that you cannot possibly achieve.
- Realistic – do you have the necessary resources to achieve the objective? For example: time, money, skills, resources, etc?
- Time constrained – determine when each stage needs to be completed. Is there time in your schedule to allow for unexpected delays? Plan your research!
Diagram of how a thesis should be structured (Introduction - Chapter - Chapter - Chapter - Discussion - Conclusion).
One should be able to read the introduction and the conclusion of the thesis and understant the whole story of the thesis.
Abstract¶
It is the last thing to write but the first thing to be read. It is a really compressed version of the thesis, it is the summary of the research. Writing an abstract can be done easier by describing the entiere project in 5 slides.
Introduction¶
Establish the territory (~ framework), establish the niche (what is the gap), identify the importance of the research, the aim and objectives and finally introduce the chapters.
Chapters¶
The chapters are structures like matrioskas: they also have an introduction, the experiments and developpement and a conclusion. Chapters should be related to one another. What you present in a chapter should not be presented in chronological order. Data produced during the thesis should be ordered and presented to show our point. It is important to sort out the data that I am going to present in order not to confuse people. For instance, failed experiments should be put in additional data but not in the thesis.
Chart: structure of a chapter.
Discussion¶
Reflect on the entiere research. Explore the limitations. What can push back those limitations. Be careful with the correlation and causalation. It can be suggested but not asserted when it is not sure.
Conclusion¶
It is a bit of the oppostie of the introduction in the sense that you have to look from the research to the implications. It can be done easily by asking yourself "So what? Why should we care?". Synthetize, do not summarize. No new information should be added in the conclusion!
Chart: Structure of a conclusion.
Final thesis¶
Here is the final link to my thesis I wrote according to the guidelines previously mentionned and its supplementary data.