Technics and Invention
Research Methods in the Architectural Sciences
“You can always find a needle in a haystack, if you have the time
of patience and a nostalgia for the lost needle. There’s little
chance on the contrary of finding a straw of hay in the hay of the
stable. […] I know of no other figure of hope than this straw that
sparkles alone in the indifferent, the mixed, the ordinary, the
disorderedness of the stable.
[…]
My hope does not lie in that straight route, a monotonous and
dismal method which newness has fled from the beginning; my
hope is the interrupted path, broken, drawn at random, at every
halt…”
—Michel Serres, Rome
To introduce and apply a general framework for understanding research methods, and to be able to situate one’s own method(s) within those applied in their own field and that of others, not only for one’s own dissertation, but also for writing for and applying to academic conferences or journals, as well as peer-reviewing and situating the methods employed by other researchers. The language of instruction
and of semester work will be in English.
This course will look at a selection of research methods currently being used in scientific research on the built environment. Borrowing from the philosophy of Michel Serres, we will address methods as informational motors, which constitute a ‘reservoir’ of data and ‘process’ its contents in a formalized and systematic way. We will therefore not be focusing per se on methodology—the conventions by which particular methods are considered applicable or not—but rather on methods themselves as technical tools of discovery to be applied inventively in the research process. Through selected readings and examples of published empirical studies, we will look at how each method operates in a particular context of application. Participants will be asked to practice with the skills developed over the course of the semester in the writing of three abstracts for application to international academic conferences in their field.
Semester Work
Course participants will develop three abstracts in English for conferences in their field. Depending on the conference, abstracts may be short (250 words) or longer (up to 1000). The exercise will serve to apply the general framework presented during the semester and to help participants present their research projects succinctly and with clarity.
