Grounded Design - a praxeological IS research perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Rohde ◽  
Peter Brödner ◽  
Gunnar Stevens ◽  
Matthias Betz ◽  
Volker Wulf

In this paper, we propose Grounded Design - a particular design research (DR) approach rooted in a practice-theoretical tradition. It assesses the quality of information technology (IT) design through evaluation of emerging changes in social practices, which result from the appropriation and use of IT artifacts. The paper starts with a systematic analysis of the reasons for persistent limitations of traditional information systems DR, specifically in coping with problems of contingency and self-referentiality. Following this critique, the principles of Grounded Design are presented. Grounded Design is applied in case studies where we reconstruct the social practices observed before and during the design and appropriation of innovative IT artifacts. We call these context-specific research endeavors ‘design case studies.’ In conducting these case studies, Grounded Design builds upon well-established research methods such as ethnographical field studies, participatory design and action research. To support the transferability of its situated findings, Grounded Design suggests documenting increasing numbers of design case studies to create an extended, comparative knowledge base. Comparing cases allows for the emergence of bottom-up concepts dealing with the design and appropriation of innovative IT artifacts in social practice.

Author(s):  
Matthias Betz ◽  
Volker Wulf

Grounded design is a particular design-research approach applied in case studies. The approach aims to investigate social practices with the purpose of identifying and unveiling problematic aspects of that practice. In research contexts, design case studies are conducted by applying established research methods such as ethnographic field studies, participatory design, and action research. As a research approach, grounded design claims to contribute to scientific knowledge by creating a collection of documented cases that is accessible for a further comprehensive and overarching analysis. This chapter provides an example of such a study through a comparison of two design case studies in the field of civil security research, in the context of firefighting: the Landmarke project and the Koordinator project. In addition, this chapter addresses the transferability of design case studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-33
Author(s):  
Katherine Townsend ◽  
Ania Sadkowska

The article presents a participatory research model based on two case studies, involving the making of the research and the making of the clothing. In recent years, there has been growing interest in participatory design research, especially in relation to textiles and clothing. Various practice-based initiatives focused around the role, value and use of clothing have demonstrated success in developing and applying research methodologies aimed at activating or recording creative outcomes while staying attuned to participants’ experiential knowledge and feedback. Researchers working across social and design innovation contexts point to the urgent need for new cultures of sustainable practice that challenge the growth model through the sharing of expert and amateur knowledge and skills. Consequently, an important opportunity now exists to more formally explicate a transferable model of principles for participatory engagement through making together. Based on a critical analysis of two consecutive collaborative research inquiries, this article posits a working model of ‘participatory research through clothing design’. The authors suggest that the model, consisting of five stages of participation: (1) communicating and listening, (2) involving, (3) activating and responding, (4) consulting and (5) sharing, offers a useful pathway when considering craft-based research aspirations and goals. The authors seek to highlight some of the practical opportunities and ethical responsibilities faced by researchers when making with others, while delineating some of the challenges and potential pitfalls raised by both case studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongfeng Tian

Abstract Traditionally strict language separation policies in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs reflect parallel monolingualism and have been criticized as failing to recognize the sociolinguistic realities of bilingual students (García, Ofelia & Angel M. Y. Lin. 2017. Translanguaging in bilingual education. In Ofelia García, Angel M. Y. Lin & Stephen May (eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education, 117–130. Cham: Springer International Publishing). To recognize the dynamic nature of bilingualism and leverage bilingual learners’ full semiotic and linguistic repertoire as a resource, this study looks at how to strategically and purposefully develop flexible and multilingual educational spaces in a third grade Chinese Language Arts (CLA) class in a Mandarin-English DLBE program in the New England area, U.S. Drawing upon Sánchez, María Teresa (Maite), Ofelia García & Cristian Solorza. 2018. Reframing language allocation policy in dual language bilingual education. Bilingual Research Journal 41(1). 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2017.1405098, translanguaging allocation policy framework, the researcher and the teacher co-designed and implemented translanguaging documentation, translanguaging rings, and translanguaging transformation spaces in the CLA class throughout the school year of 2018–19. Taking the form of participatory design research (Bang, Megan & Shirin Vossoughi. 2016. Participatory design research and educational justice: Studying learning and relations within social change making. Cognition and Instruction 34(3). 173–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2016.1181879), this collaborative inquiry demonstrates that translanguaging pedagogies could promote student engagement, contribute to their academic learning, and build home-school connections. It aims to provide authentic, sustainable knowledge for both researchers and practitioners to better serve bilingual learners in DLBE programs.


Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Jenny Stenberg ◽  
Lasse Fryk

Children’s participation in planning has been investigated to some extent. There are, however, unexplored topics, particularly concerning what is needed for children’s participation to become a regular process. Based on case studies in Sweden, this article draws some conclusions. It is quite possible to organize ordinary processes where children participate in community building, in collaboration with planners, as part of their schoolwork. The key question is how this can be done. Clearly, it needs to occur in close collaboration with teachers and pupils, however it also needs to be implemented in a system-challenging manner. Thus, rather than looking for tools with potential to work in the existing school and planners’ world, it is important to design research that aims to create learning processes that have the potential to change praxis. Hence, it is not the case that tools are not needed, rather that children need to help to develop them.


Author(s):  
Cinamon Sunrise Bailey ◽  
Ibrahim Oluwajoba Adisa ◽  
Hazel Vega ◽  
Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens

2021 ◽  
pp. 092137402110340
Author(s):  
Thomas Bierschenk

This postface argues for a narrow and analytically strong concept of brokerage, which is oriented towards the classical definition by Boissevain. His ideal type emphasises the agency of brokers who actively pursue their own interests and act at an equal distance to the groups between which they mediate. Furthermore, the text argues for thinking of brokerage as a bundle of social practices instead of as brokers in the sense of a social type. While few social actors are fully-fledged brokers, many of them engage in brokerage.


Author(s):  
Erik M. W. Kolb ◽  
Jonathan Hey ◽  
Hans-Ju¨rgen Sebastian ◽  
Alice M. Agogino

Metaphors have successfully been used by new product development and design teams to help frame the design situation and communicate new products to stakeholders. Yet, the process of finding a compelling metaphor often turns upon stumbling upon it or a flash of insight from a team member. We present Meta4acle: a Metaphor Exploration Tool for design that suggests possible metaphors to make the process more one of ‘seeking out’ than ‘stumbling upon’ an effective metaphor. The tool takes data about the project in the form of a title, domain and key associations required of the metaphor and returns suggestions from a database of possible metaphor sources. We built a Meta4acle prototype and evaluated it with positive results for three existing design case studies. We present plans for its full implementation and evaluation.


Author(s):  
L. Bryant Foster

Human factors formative and validation testing have become a part of the regulatory submission process for new medical devices in the U.S. and Europe. However, there are additional design research methods that manufacturers should consider implementing before and during development to ensure their products are safe, usable and desirable. Many manufacturers avoid conducting design research due to regulatory requirements to document adverse events. This paper discusses contextual research and participatory design performed to gather user needs for a new Total Artificial Heart TAH-t) user interface as well as strategies for conducting research with current users to comply with regulatory constraints.


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 520
Author(s):  
Aaron Rock-Singer

This article challenges the dominant organization-centered focus of the study of Islamic movements, and argues for a turn towards social practice. To do so, it traces the rise and spread of Egypt’s leading Salafi movement, Ansar al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya (e. 1926) and its role in popularizing a series of distinct practices between 1940 and 1990. Based on the full run of this movement’s magazine, al-Hadi al-Nabawi (the Prophetic Guide, 1936–66) and al-Tawhid (Monolatry, 1973–93), the article explores the conditions in which practices such as praying in shoes and bareheaded, gender segregation and the cultivation of a fist-length beard were both politically viable and strategically advantageous. In doing so, it not only casts light on the trajectory of this movement, but also shows how and why the articulation and performance of distinct social practices are central to how Islamic movements shape society.


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