Welcome to Design Research - Epistemologies and Methods
Course description: This PhD course aim to provide a profound understanding amongst the participants with respect to how their project is located within various positions and schools of thought. The course focuses in particular on the two levels of epistemology and method providing insight into philosophy of science as well as specific issues of methodology. The underpinning idea is to get participants to understand how the way they produce new knowledge within design research is related to the research design and the methods applied. The course will both provide a general level of knowledge about theories of science and relevant methods, as well as it will put focus on experimental, pragmatic and empirical research with end user experience as the pivotal theme.
Prerequisites: Prioritized enrollment as PhD student under the Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design but open for all regardless of discipline provided there are vacant seats.
Learning objectives: The course participants will obtain oversight-knowledge about general issues and schools of thought within design research epistemology and method. The course participants will obtain competences in identifying their research project in relation to its epistemological context. The course participants will develop skills in analyzing and reflecting over the relation between epistemology and method within their research project.
Teaching methods: The course is divided into lectures, participant's research project presentation, workshops, and plenary discussions.
Criteria for assessment: Participants are expected to read the ‘A’ literature before the course, present their projects with specific emphasis on epistemology and methodology (research design), be actively participating in discussions during the course, and post-course submission of a written essay assignment (in case of the 5 ECTS option).
Readings (A = primary readings to be read in advance of the course, B = inspiration)
A Readings (will be accessible in PhD Moodle prior to the course)
Delanty, G. & P. Strydon (eds.) (2003) Philosophies of Social Science. The Classic and contemporary readings, Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 1-12
Fallan. K. (2008) Architecture in Action. Travelling with Actor-Network Theory in the land of architectural research, Architectural Theory Review, 13(1), 80-96
Groath, L. & D. Wang (2013) Architectural Research Methods, Hoboken: Wiley, 2nd Edition, pp. 63-99 (Chapter 3)
Jensen, O. B. (2014) Designing Mobilities, Aalborg: Aalborg University Press, pp. 38-53 (Chapter 3)
Jensen, O. B. & D. B. Lanng (2017) Mobilities Design, Routledge: London, pp. 26-41 (chapter 2)
Latour, B. (1992) ‘‘Where Are the Missing Masses? The Sociology of a Few Mundane Artifacts’’ in Wiebe E. Bijker and John Law, eds., Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1992), pp. 225–258
Yaneva, A. (2017) Five Ways of Making Architecture Political. An Introduction to the Politics of Design Practice, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 31-52 (Chapter 2: How to Study Ecology of Practice)
B Readings
Degen, M., G. Rose & B. Basdas (2010) Bodies and everyday practices in designed urban environments Science Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 60-76
Delanty, G. & P. Strydon (eds.) (2003) Philosophies of Social Science. The Classic and contemporary readings, Maidenhead: Open University Press
Dunne, A. & F. Raby (2013) Speculative Everything. Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming, Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press
Fallan, K. (2010) Design History. Understanding Theory and Method, Oxford: Berg
Fraser, M. (ed.) (2013) Design Research in Architecture. An Overview, Farnham: Ashgate
Groath, L. & D. Wang (2013) Architectural Research Methods, Hoboken: Wiley, 2nd Edition
Gänshirt, C. (2007) Tools for Ideas. An Introduction to Architectural Design, Basel: Birkhäuser
Jensen, O. B. (Ed.) (2010) Design Research Epistemologies I – Research in Architectural Design, Aalborg: Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology
Jensen, O. B., T. V. Olsen, J. B. Mikkelsen & S. Wind (eds.)(2016) Design Research Epistemologies II, Aalborg: Departmental Working Paper Series, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, vol. 92
Jensen, O. B. (2016) Of ‘other’ materialities: why (mobilities) design is central to the future of mobilities research, Mobilities, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 587-597, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2016.1211826
Jensen, O. B., D. B. Lanng & S. Wind (2016) Mobilities Design – towards a research agenda for applied mobilities research, Applied Mobilities, vol. 1, no. 1, 26-42
Latour, B. & A. Yaneva (2008) "Give me a gun and I will make all buildings move": An ANT's vies of Architecture, in Geiser, R. (Ed.) (2008) Explorations in Architecture: Teaching, Design, Research, Basel: Birkhäuser, pp. 80-89
Lawson, B. (2004) What designers know, London: Architectural Press
Levitas, R. (2013) Utopia as Method. The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society, Basingstoke: Palgrave
Gunn, W., T. Otto & R. C. Smith (Eds.) (2013) Design Anthropology. Theory & Practice, London: Bloomsbury
Naisbitt, K. (1996) Introduction, in Nesbitt, K. (ed.) (1996) Theorizing A New Agenda for Architecture Theory. An anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995, New York: Princeton Architectural Press
Otto, T. & R. C. Smith (2013) Design Anthropology: A Distinct Style of Knowing, in W. Gunn, T. Otto & R. C. Smith (Eds.) (2013) Design Anthropology. Theory & Practice, London: Bloomsbury
Yaneva, A. (2005) Scaling Up and Down: Extraction Trials in Architectural Design, Social Studies of Science, 35/6, December 2005, 867-894
Yaneva, A. (2009) Making the social hold: Towards an Actor-Network Theory of Design, Design and Culture, Vol. 1, Issue 3, pp. 273-388
Yaneva, A. (2017) Five Ways of Making Architecture Political. An Introduction to the Politics of Design Practice, London: Bloomsbury
Vannini, P. (ed.) Non-Representational Research Methodologies. Re-Envisioning Research, London: Routledge
Organizer: Professor Ole B. Jensen, Department of Architecture, Design & Media Technology, AAU
Lecturer: Professor Ole B. Jensen
Date: April 23-25, 2018, starting on 23 April at 10:00
Credits: 3 ECTS or 5 ECTS if an assignment of 10-15 normal pages is submitted after the course
Place: AAU, Rendsburggade 14, Aalborg, room 4.531
Max. number of participants: 15
Deadline for registration: One month before the course
Important information concerning PhD courses We have over some time experienced problems with no-show for both project and general courses. It has now reached a point where we are forced to take action. Therefore, the Doctoral School has decided to introduce a no-show fee of DKK 5,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately three months before start. This can hopefully also provide new students a chance to register for courses during the year. We look forward to your registrations.
- Teacher: Ole B. Jensen