An introduction to research methodology and research principles aimed at Industrial Design students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

1. Design Research &
Research Methodology
An investigation and classification of terms.
Industrial Design Department | Cape Peninsula University of Technology

2. Designing You
Introduction
What influenced you to become a designer?
What type of designer would you like to be and why?

3. Designing Research
Introduction
Established Theories
& Ideas.
Knowledge.
The world.
Understanding.
What is appropriate?
What is know, what is
tested?
Discipline specific.
Appropriate research techniques.
Peer agreement.
Defined.
The unknown
Your
idea New theory.
New application.
Hybrid uses.
Revisit ideas.
New context.
Gaps in knowledge.
New technology.
Existing About to exist

4. Designing Research
Introduction
What do you
want to
investigate?
Establish context.
Develop main research
question.
Extract and order your
subsidiary questions (3)
Write up the background
of your research
problem.
What do
other
researchers
say?
Find appropriate
background info
from appropriate
sources.
Write up what
they said in your
Literature Review.
How are you
going to
investigate the
topic?
Research Proposal
Appropriate theories.
Select methods and styles of
research as well as a
practical outline of how you
will go about answering
your research problems.
Your Research
Methodology.

5. Research Myths
Introduction
Myth #1:
Research is about finding out
new things.
“Yesterday I figured out that my dog can play dead”

6. Research Myths
Introduction
Myth #2:
All research must change the
way we view the world!!
“I found out that my best friend stole my promotion from
under my nose...because he plays golf with the boss”

7. Research Myths
Introduction
Myth #3:
Research is difficult and for
‘clever’ people.
You learned how to walk.
Hybrid method of observational and participatory research
You gave a friend advice after listening to them.
Narrative and observational social research.

8. Research Myths
Introduction
Myth #4:
Research is stupid because my
idea makes perfect sense.
Carrot cake is the best cake in the world.

9. Research Myths
Introduction
Myth #5:
I can’t research this topic because
no-one has looked into it.
The Effect of Country Music on Suicide.
S. Stack and J. Gundlach. 1992. Wayne State University and Auburn University
"The greater the airtime devoted to country music, the
greater the white suicide rate"
Love and Sex with Robots.
D. Levy (PhD). 2007. University of Maastricht
"Human-robot marriages will be legal by 2050"
http://www.oddee.com/item_90683.aspx

10. When is it Research?
Introduction
Set philosophy
and framework.
Philosophies means
approaches e.g.
qualitative,
quantitative and the
academic
discipline in which you
have been trained.
Uses valid and
reliable
methods and
techniques.
Validity means that
correct procedures
have been applied to
find answers to a
question. Reliability
refers to the quality
of a measurement
procedure that
provides repeatability
and accuracy.
Is completed and
written in an
objective manner.
Unbiased and objective
means that you have
taken each step in an
unbiased manner and
drawn each conclusion to
the best of your ability
and without introducing
your own vested interest.
3 golden rules of good research practices.

11. Research Methodology
Types of methodologies, methods and strategies.
Industrial Design Department | Cape Peninsula University of Technology

12. Research Methodology
Types of methodologies, methods and strategies.
Research Methodology
• Scientific and Social Research
• Positivism and Anti-positivism
• Qualitative and Quantitative Research
• Levels: Methodology, Methods and Strategies
• Methodology for Design
o Grounded Theory
o Ethnography
o Participatory Action Research

13. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Research can also be divided into pure
research and applied research.
Pure research has no application on real
life, whereas applied research have real-
world application. Pure research can have
later real-world application.

14. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Scientific Research (method)
Is a type of research in which the problem
is identified, appropriate information and
data is gathered, a hypothesis is developed
based on the data, and the hypothesis is
rigorously tested through experimentation.
*Hypotheses are specified expectations about empirical reality which are derived from
existing theory (knowledge) and propositions.

15. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Social Research:
Social research is based on logic and
empirical observations, and attempts to
create or validate theories through data
collection and data analysis. The goal of
social research is exploration, description,
explanation, and prediction.
*Social Research can also rely with hypotheses.

16. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Scientific
Research
Social
Research
A large fertiliser company has moved next to a small rural
community. In the 5 years following, infant mortality doubled.
Chemicals present in air or water
sources and relation to fertilizer plant?
What level of pollution would lead to
infant deaths?
What is the impact of a high infant
death rate on a rural community?
How are families dealing with the grief?

17. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Firebaugh’s principles of ‘Good’ social
research include:
• Be open to unexpected findings and to
change your mind; don’t be “blinded”
by preconceived ideas.
• Keep your work grounded and “build
in reality checks”.

18. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Firebaugh’s principles of ‘Good’ social
research include:
• Try to replicate the research to see
whether you will get the same results.
• Compare ‘apples with apples’
• Your methods and processes must be
dictated by the research: “Let method
be the servant, not the master”.

19. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Social Research techniques:
Social scientists are divided into camps of
support for particular research techniques
including:
(positivism and anti-positivism)
(quantitative and qualitative)
*There is no right and wrong, ONLY what is appropriate.

20. Positivism & Anti-positivism
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Positivism is philosophy of science
based on the view that in the social as
well as natural sciences, empirical
derived from sensory experience, and
logical and mathematical treatments of
such data, are together the exclusive
source of all authentic knowledge.

21. Positivism & Anti-positivism
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Positivism is an approach to investigation and
research credited to a number of thinkers and
philosophers of the Enlightenment period.
Auguste Comte, a philosopher who further
developed the concept of positivism in the 19th
century, argued that society operates according to
its own laws which could be compared to the laws
that govern the natural world.

22. Positivism & Anti-positivism
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Positivist Principles
• Social and natural sciences are united in the
scientific method – the only ‘right’ method.
• Conclusions form positivist research should
explain and predict (and be consistent during
additional testing)
• Data and knowledge should be generated
through empirical methods.
• Statements, findings and observations must be
true for all times and places.

23. Positivism & Anti-positivism
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Positivist Principles
• Deductive logic should be used to develop a
hypothesis which in turn leads to
experimentation, discovery or study of
evidence).
• Research should be observable with the ‘human
senses’ (sensing or believing is not acceptable).
• Research should be led by logic and should be
objective (devoid of personal, cultural, political
or religious bias).

24. Positivism & Anti-positivism
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Anti-positivism is the view in social
science that the methods and processes
of research used in natural science may
not apply to the social sphere. Anti-
positivistic research should focus on
understanding the meanings and
implications of social behaviour instead
of empirical and scientific methods.

25. Positivism & Anti-positivism
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Jürgen Habermas (1967) argued that:
“...the positivist thesis of unified science, which
assimilates all the sciences to a natural-scientific
model, fails because of the intimate relationship
between the social sciences and history, and the fact
that they are based on a situation-specific
understanding of meaning... access to a symbolically
prestructured reality cannot be gained by
observation alone.”

26. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Social Research methods:
2 main methods
1. Quantitative designs approach social phenomena
through quantifiable evidence, and often rely on
statistical analysis of many cases to create.
2. Qualitative designs emphasize understanding of
social phenomena through direct observation,
communication, or analysis and may stress
contextual and subjective accuracy over
generality.

27. Quantitative & Qualitative
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Positivist research usually favours a methodical
research process which adheres to empirical
principles of replicability, reliability and validity
associated with quantitative research methods.
Positivists typically use research methods such as
experiments and statistical surveys
Anti-positivism generally adhere to qualitative
research methods. The focus is on ethnographic
fieldwork, conversation/discourse analysis or open-
ended interviews.

28. Quantitative & Qualitative
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
While very different in many aspects, both
qualitative and quantitative approaches involve a
systematic interaction between theory and data.
Positivist and anti-positivist methods are
sometimes combined.

29. Scientific & Social Research
What is this? Which do I use?
Research Methodology
Social Research methods:
There are many more methods then stated below:
Quantitative methods
Cluster analysis
Correlation and association
Multivariate statistics
Regression analysis
Surveys and questionnaires
Structural equation modelling
Survey research
Quantitative marketing research
Qualitative methods
Analytic induction
Case study
Life history
Participant observation
Unstructured interview
Focus discussion group
Depth interview
Clinic
Dialog Technique
Fishbowl

30. Graphic Overview
Overview: Methods and Research Types
ScientificResearchSocialResearch
Field Approach Methods Strategy/Theory
Pure
Empirical
Positivist
Anti-
Positivist
Laboratory
Experimentation
Quantitative
Qualitative
Quantitative
Hybrid
Statistical Survey
Focus Group
Statistical
Questionnaire
Relates to Research Methodology
• Universal
• Sustainable
• Eco-Friendly
• Participatory

31. Research Methodology
Introducing just a few Methodologies
Industrial Design Department | Cape Peninsula University of Technology

32. Methodology for Design
Types of methodologies, methods and strategies.
Research Methodology
Methodology for Design
o Grounded Theory
o Ethnography
o Participatory Action Research

33. Grounded Theory (GT)
Methodology for Design Research
Main Definition GT develops theory about phenomena of interest, rooted
in observation. GT research begins with general questions
which help to guide the research (can be open
ended).When the initial data is gathered it is coded. As
the researcher begins to gather more data, core
theoretical concept(s) are identified. Links between
concepts are identified and explored until categories are
formed. The effort tends to evolve toward one core
category that is central from which a theory is developed
(inverse hypothesis).
The Question “Why are people not using cellphones to primarily call anymore?”
Origin Developed by Glaser and Strauss in the 1960s.
Fields of Application All social fields.
Approach Mainly qualitative.
Main Research
Methods
Interview, focus group, observation, depth interviews, fishbowls
etc.

34. Ethnography
Methodology for Design Research
Main Definition Ethnography is a qualitative research method aimed to
learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect
the knowledge and system of meanings of a cultural
group. Today the ‘group’ could also be interpreted as any
community of practice. Research can be ‘emic’ where the
researcher is part of the culture as well as an observer or
‘etic’ where the researcher is merely an observer. There
are various types of ethnographic research including
photo ethnography and video ethnography.
The Question “Which form of transport is most suitable to the elderly?”
Origin Various anthropologists and philosophers dependant on field.
Fields of Application Social (mainly anthropology, history, sociology, communication)
Approach Qualitative
Main Research
Methods
Mainly participant observation and field notes but could include
other quantitative methods.

35. Participatory Action Research
Methodology for Design Research
Main Definition Action research involves the repeated systematic process
of planning, taking action, observing, evaluating
(including self-evaluation) and critical reflection prior to
planning the next cycle. This process is a continuous one.
Participatory action research is a way to gain
understanding of how change in one's actions or practices
can benefit one’s community of practitioners. A key
aspect in PAR is that practice informs knowledge and
knowledge informs practice.
The Question “How can this situation be improved?”
Origin PAR builds on the Action Research by Kurt Lewin in 1940’s, as well
as the critical educational pedagogy put forward by Paulo Freire.
Fields of Application Anthropology, sociology, business, education, design etc,
Approach Mainly Qualitative
Main Research
Methods
Any appropriate qualitatively method.

36. Graphic Overview
Overview: Methods and Research Types
ScientificResearchSocialResearch
Field Approach Methods Strategy/Theory
Pure
Empirical
Positivist
Anti-
Positivist
Laboratory
Experimentation
Quantitative
Qualitative
Quantitative
Hybrid
1. Focus Group
2. Participant
Observation
3. Fishbowls
4. Photo
documentation
Statistical
Questionnaire
Ethnographic Methodology
• Participatory
Strategies
•Phenomenology

37. Research Ethics
Think about what you are doing and how you are going it?
Research Methodology
1. Informed consent – all participant must understand their
role in the research and must agree to participate.
2. Individuals who take part in research should not be harmed
in any manner.
3. Research practices must at all times be transparent,
honest, consistent and beneficial.
There are many sites and documentation relating to
ethic practices – please ensure you familiarise
yourself with any which pertain to you. The BIG idea
relates to the statements below: