For this week's theme, design research, we did not have a normal seminar. Instead we had a guest lecture. The author of the two texts we read for the part 1 assignment, Eva-Lotta Sallnäs Pysander, came to visit and share with us her thoughts of design research. For the guest lecture we were supposed to prepare questions regarding this week's theme. I asked one question; "What do you think is the best way to combine qualitative and quantitative research methods?". I realize that this question is closely related to the theme question: "How can qualitative and quantitative methods in the same study complement each other?", but I wanted to hear her opinion on this question. The answer I got was a semi standard answer that "it can be beneficial to use both method types". I already knew that this was the case and I would have liked more detailed examples of how this could be achieved in practice.
After that, because there were no other questions asked, Eva-Lotta started her lecture. The topic of the lecture was Eva-Lotta's earlier research work. While mildly intriguing to learn about her research, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get a more in-depth knowledge about applying research methods in reality.
However, what I found interesting about the lecture was the aspect of collaborative study groups. You can get a lot of extra information and research material for free by letting participants discuss surveys and then videotaping their discussions. We also discussed how quantitative research methods can bring qualitative data, a topic causing a bit of confusion among the lecture attendees. Eva-Lotta also talked about the need for research and theory studies before conducting a study on a topic you are new to. There was one interesting example presented about using haptic and ICT to overcome distance. In the example, engineers constructed a telephonic arm wrestling machine. The purpose of this machine was to let former soviet statesman Mikhail Gorbachev and former US president Ronald Reagan arm wrestle each other from a distance and in this way solve a possible conflict, thus bringing about peace to the world. The notion of peace through engineering and technological inventions might be noble, but in a way I find this approach to be naive, as technology has contributed a lot to facilitate war waging.
Hi Pontus,
SvaraRaderaGood thoughts! I also think its very interesting with the collaborative study groups. I don’t think its only the extra information that could be good for the research its also that I think the answers gets more honest and spontaneous by letting participants discuss surveys I groups. What do you think?
Yes, I think that these are indeed elements that are beneficial in collaborative scenarios, as you mentioned. But there is also a possible issue with dominant test participants. If a participant is too dominant in the discussions, this participant might influence others and stifle opinions that otherwise would've been voiced. I think it is therefore important to construct the collaborative research in an inclusive manner, so that all participants can join in discussion on equal terms. Perhaps the best way is to make use of semi structured collaborative exercises.
SvaraRadera