Journal of Research Practice - JRP (Athabasca University Press)
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Developing Expertise and Connoisseurship Through Handling Objects of Good Design: Example of the I.L.E.A./Camberwell Collection
Full text linkThis article takes an existing collection of design objects, the I.L.E.A./Camberwell Collection, to discuss issues of expertise, connoisseurship, and taste-formation. The article examines how the discipline of design history provides appropriate methodologies which explain expertise and connoisseurship in design with reference to the taste agenda informing the I.L.E.A./Camberwell Collection. The investigation focuses on disentangling and appraising the collection’s dual identity: as the repository of a historically contained notion of taste and as an active educational agent, being currently utilized in the University of the Arts London as a learning resource. The article proposes “handling” as a relevant research perspective. Handling’s particular advantages in investigating material culture are presented with reference to the increased importance of object-based learning and the need to extend the dominance of vision and language as the main learning modalities. The conclusion argues that while taste-formation on the principles of “good design” proved a flawed project, the practice of handling objects is of unique pedagogical value and fosters the development of expertise and connoisseurship in design
Metaphors in Design: How We Think of Design Expertise
Full text linkThe notions of design and design expertise are often argued about, but rarely agreed upon, by the design community. Cognitive linguists suggest that metaphors structure our perceptions and understanding, and affect the way we organize our ideas. Based on this argument, the article investigates metaphors related to design, in particular design expertise, to address how these metaphors shape our understanding of design. It examines how design expertise is represented through the use of metaphors and explores the use of metaphors as a tool to recognize, share, and acquire expertise. Metaphors examined in this article are identified through a literature review on design knowledge and skills, and interviews conducted with designers. The metaphors are analysed in a framework that identifies the linguistic roots, associated meanings, underlying theories, and their possible impacts on the design discipline. This analysis contributes to the ongoing debate on design and design expertise. It also suggests ways of improving how we communicate design expertise with communities who often do not share the same language and mindset
Transdisciplinarity: A Review of Its Origins, Development, and Current Issues
Full text linkTransdisciplinarity originated in a critique of the standard configuration of knowledge in disciplines in the curriculum, including moral and ethical concerns. Pronouncements about it were first voiced between the climax of government-supported science and higher education and the long retrenchment that began in the 1970s. Early work focused on questions of epistemology and the planning of future universities and educational programs. After a lull, transdisciplinarity re-emerged in the 1990s as an urgent issue relating to the solution of new, highly complex, global concerns, beginning with climate change and sustainability and extending into many areas concerning science, technology, social problems and policy, education, and the arts. Transdisciplinarity today is characterized by its focus on “wicked problems” that need creative solutions, its reliance on stakeholder involvement, and engaged, socially responsible science. In simultaneously studying multiple levels of, and angles on, reality, transdisciplinary work provides an intriguing potential to invigorate scholarly and scientific inquiry both in and outside the academy
Using Culturally Informed Strategies to Enhance Recruitment of African Americans in Dementia Research: A Nurse Researcher's Experience
Full text linkDecreased research participation hinders advancement in the understanding and treatment of dementia in African Americans. This article describes the experience of a nurse researcher using culturally informed strategies to enhance recruitment in the African American population in southern Louisiana, as part of a study on family involvement in health promotion activities for older adults with dementia. Strategies went beyond having minority recruiters and recruiting from churches to becoming familiar with the context and culture of southern Louisiana through engagement with the community and attaining buy-in from formal and informal contacts. The researcher kept field notes, journals, and a record of recruitment activities to assure accountability during recruitment. An analysis of the field notes revealed the salience of six themes, namely Gaining Trust, Visibility, Networking, Follow-up, Purposeful Activity, and Community Engagement. Barriers that were overcome included knowledge deficit about dementia in the target community and the cultural unsuitability of the terminology linked to dementia. Benefits included community awareness and development of community and family partnerships, and of course, the recruitment of adequate number of research participants
Intuition as an Expression of Procedural Knowledge and its Association With Sense-Impressions: Illustrations From Winemaking Practice
Full text linkThe article explores the intuitive element of procedural knowledge in winemaking. It presents data on winemakers’ interpretation of intuition, specifically its relationship with sense-impressions and experience. Interviews were conducted with six winemakers and two winemaking consultants in South Africa. Four insights on intuition emerged from the interviews. According to the first, intuition is similar to artistic inspiration, the unique and subconscious flow of ideas and approaches that characterize creative instinct. The second insight emphasizes the role of the senses in knowing intuitively, and calls for an examination of the relation between intuition and the senses. The third insight views intuition as immediate knowledge that springs from a link between past experiences and current events. In the last, intuition is seen to occur when all the facts of a matter are considered and the missing pieces of the puzzle are filled in by sensory assessments
Slider Scales and Web-Based Surveys: A Cautionary Note
Full text linkSlider scales (or, visual analog scales) are becoming increasingly popular in web-based surveys. These psychometric response scales utilize Likert-type items in which respondents select a point along a line labelled with bipolar endpoints to indicate their preference or agreement with a statement. This article is a response to an article that appeared earlier in the Journal of Research Practice where the writers treated Likert-type data as interval-level measurements. The authors of this response article contend that it is erroneous to suppose the data obtained by visual analog scales to be quantitative and continuous (on an interval scale) when, in fact, these are discreet data (on an ordinal scale), which are essentially qualitative. Qualitative data are not quantitative and no means of analysis can make it so
Connoisseurship as a Substitute for User Research? The Case of the Swiss Watch Industry
Full text linkConventional wisdom holds that new product development is more successfully undertaken when design is user-led. An exception is the luxury goods sector, in which a common presentation of the brand is one where the customer should aspire to the vision of its designers. In such cases, the proprietor is often cast as a connoisseur, an expert in the brand’s history who is intuitively able to give vision and direction. Within the Swiss luxury watch industry, heritage and the illusion of exclusivity are vital strategies in the communication of products as luxury items. Connoisseurship plays a central role in this communication, establishing the boundaries of brands whose products might otherwise appear similar. In such cases, connoisseurship is presented to the customer as superior to user research, engendering products with a sophistication which customer insights cannot provide. Nonetheless, whilst conventional user research methods play little part in the design of Swiss watches, less formal methods are employed. These are shown to also have application in non-luxury sectors too. The utilization of strategies employed by the Swiss watch industry in future scenarios of new product development is also discussed
Reflections on Giving Back and Giving Thanks
Full text linkThis research note is part of the thematic section, Practical Realities of Giving Back, in the special issue titled “Giving Back in Field Research,” published as Volume 10, Issue 2 in the Journal of Research Practice