Final post ("1000 words")

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.