As we come to the conclusion of this
course, I believe the themes of these past weeks has provided a good foundation
for upcoming studies and research. In this final post I will discuss the main
values and knowledge I have gained from the course and also how this can be
useful after the course is finished.
Theory of knowledge and theory of science
As students who are going to encounter a
lot of theories and so called “facts” during the upcoming years, I believe it
was suitable to begin the course by introducing a critical perspective of the
concept of knowledge. Research is commonly perceived as a way to prove truths
and mediate them to the people. By confronting the idea of research, breaking
it down to its sole purpose (the production of knowledge) and examining it as a
perception gives the audience (us students, in this case) a chance to question
and examine the research itself. I think the theme made it clear how knowledge
is never absolute. It is rather a result of a production line, very much in the
same way as artefacts are being produced in a company. (Current) knowledge is
only used for just as long as technological, societal or cultural circumstances
have not yet come up with new techniques to produce something “better” and more
relevant.
Critical media studies
Further on, the theme of week two deepened
the philosophical stance to knowledge, theory and truths. I believe this made
us not only question the results of research, but even research in itself. After
all, if there is no such thing as knowledge, it is worthwhile to question why
research is valuable and how it can be used in the most advantageous way. The
texts provided by Walter Benjamin and Adorno & Horkheimer showed how
science and the idea of knowledge production can be exploited, in benefit for
societal and political powers. It also highlighted how it is essential for as a
society as a whole to incorporate a critical stance, for it is vital for a
democracy and societal progress to have an open questioning about truths and
structures.
Research and theory
After a lot of philosophical discussions,
theme three presented a topic that dealt with a more specific concept of
research – and theory in particular. If we are to produce the most relevant
knowledge for the current time and circumstances, it is necessary to be able to
determine what foundation this knowledge can be based upon. I believe that
theory is such a vital part of research, very much due to the acceptance of
knowledge as a temporary phenomenon. Since knowledge cannot be determined as an
absolute/universal fact, theory is needed in order to support newly founded
knowledge – and also justify why it is relevant to even be considered
knowledge. In texts and during seminars it was shown how data, statistics,
references etc. could only point at supporting evidence of certain occurrences,
however, without theory, they did not motivate or provide any results with
meaning.
Quantitative research
After having explored the foundation of
research and knowledge production, theme four was the first theme to present a
specific “tool”. I think everyone was familiar with the concept, but as our
understanding of research had widened the last couple of weeks, I believe it
was beneficial to put this familiar concept into a broader perspective. As
quantitative studies offers hard data, there seem to be a general understanding
of quantitative research as objective and true – but as we discussed during
previous themes, no matter what sort of data is generated, it will not contain
any meaning unless in interacts with the human understanding and processing of
information. This shows how essential it is to keep a critical perspective on
all forms of information people encounter.
Design research
As the course progressed, we were also
introduced to more unfamiliar approaches. Personally, I was not aware of design
research as an individual research “method” and although I saw the necessity
for research in design; I was
critical of how the approach lacked a determined, structured process in the
initiation of the study. However, in hindsight, I believe it all stems from
that initial question of what is knowledge, and what kind of knowledge we seek
to produce in this specific field. Science has been performed for a long time
as a way to try to explain what we
experience, but in modern days a new perspective have been introduced: that
which tries to explore possible/potential options and results which have not
yet been experienced. Therefore, design research cannot direct the process from
the start, as it is not aiming to confirm something already known.
Qualitative and case study research
Finally, the course was concluded by exanimating
and discussing qualitative methods and case studies. As qualitative methodology
is a long, recognized approach, it was easy to look at case studies from the
perspective of it being a version of a qualitative method. However, after
analysing case study research during the seminars, it became clear how case
studies are not limited to “only” qualitative methods, but consists of more
complex structures.
Although it stems from fundamental
approaches (such as quantitative and qualitative) and use the methods within
the research process, case studies, - as well as design research - show a
different attitude in defining their expected result. It seems to me that these
approaches rather let the process itself structure the research and decide what
is relevant information – which in turn defines what is the relevant knowledge
that can be generated from it. I think the way these approaches diminish the
importance of a result is in line with how the common idea of knowledge is
expected to be questioned.
Overall, the question of what is knowledge,
followed by which knowledge is relevant and how it is produced – has permeated
the entire course. As a student, I think it has been interesting to not only
explore the various themes, but to also be encouraged to question and discuss
what has been presented to me. Although the overlapping of themes have been
confusing at times (in terms of writing blog posts/commenting on three different
themes each week), but by doing so it has been indicated how the themes and
approaches are actually overlapping/connected to one another. I believe the
effects of the course will first and foremost be shown when writing the master
thesis. It has been quite a helpful course, providing us student with mind-sets
and tools to perform research on our own, and I am looking forward to putting
it into use.
