Design Research Methodology

07.09.2023 - 30.11.2023 (Week 1 - Week 14)

Sorcha Griselda / 0353056 

Design Research Methodology / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Proposal, Critical Review, Primary Data, Reflection & Recorded Presentation

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INSTRUCTION

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Assignment 1 | Research Proposal 

Assignment 2 | Critical Review (Secondary Research)

Assignment 3 | Research Design - Primary Data

Assignment 4 | Research Reflection Report and Recorded Presentation  

Presentation Slides:

Fully Compiled Slides (Assignments 1 - 4)

Recorded Presentation Link:

SORCHAGRISELDA_PRESENTATION_MP4

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FEEDBACK

Official Specific Feedback

Assignment 1 & 2 | Research Proposal & Critical Review (Secondary Research)

• Dr Jinchi: 
• Hi Sorcha, here are my comments for your Assignments 1 & 2: The overall research problem is feasible. The research questions and objectives could be tweaked to be more aligned with the research problem (refer to my comments in the slides). Overall the articles are suitable for the research topic and are within the last 5 years. The critique is adequate and reflects a good understanding of the text.

Weekly In-Class Feedback  (link: Google sheet feedback)

Week 3:

• Show that the problem is truly exist through reading and stating facts from research articles
• Read the abstract first as it will give you the overall of the articles
• Can go to google scholar
• Search the latest article (don’t go over 5 years old articles)
• Research problem is usually one sentence or longer phrase
• Compulsory to cite on the problem statement (surname of the author, the year if the article was published)
• Finish objective
• Include references
• It is allowed to use 1-2 web articles to write on the proposal

Week 4:

• Research problem: Need to be a problem where when you collect the data, then you can solve/explore, portray your analytical skill
• Topic: Graphic design in the digital age / (example) how VR technology has influenced the graffiti art in Malaysia
• Relook at the topic choices
• Do not cite all of the authors if there are more than two authors

Week 5:

Public Holiday

Week 6:

• RQ: What are the aspect of protest art that has influence of the graphic design output on these social movement?
• PS: dedicate one paragraph on that Is protest art and the elements of protest art
• RO: 
• 1) To explore the use of graphic design in social media movements in Malaysia
• 2) To explore the influence of protest art on graphic design in Malaysia’s social movement

Week 7:

• Why are your research conducted in a survey method? (to understand people’s opinion is form by this rapid representation…)
•  Add the selected images after the Survey slide (make sure its social activism posters) and justify those images
• Finish the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaire (survey)
• Include the specific target groups (18-25) university students, where do you get this info (support with citation)
• Do the justification of the questionnaires , the respondents; Use own understanding and explanation in the sentences

Week 8:

Independent Learning Week

Week 9:

• Add in literature where the data, social movement poster can move people (to justify ur questions) 
• Give definition what is visual appeal
• Can put definition appeal on the introduction or break to down to different section in google forms
• Justify why you choose Fahmi Reza work

Week 10:

• Good questions and adjust a bit on your form introduction (don't put your phone number, have your school's email)

Week 11:

• Good job and just keep the survey open until the end of this week

Week 12:

• Explain further the analysis
• Q5. Neutral
• Provide the percentage numbers (Q 5,7,9)
• Q7. Define “pretty good”. Does it attract them? Are they able to understand?
• Provide the survey link on the slide
• Define “great visual appeal”
• Q 11,12 Refer to some secondary research (research articles)

Week 13:

• Working on the simplified slides for the presentation

Week 14:

• Centralized the title
• Not use all uppercase
• Change the typeface
• Justify why you choose the 3 posters

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REFLECTION

• Experience
• Unlike my other courses, the 'design research methodology' module stands out to me because it places a greater emphasis on thorough research and analysis, departing from the usual activities present in my design classes. In this module, I have the freedom to select my own research topic and problem to investigate. It opened up a whole new perspective on the vastness of the design field, something quite different from the content in my other classes. The assignments in this module turned out to be quite a time investment due to the extensive online research needed to pinpoint specific justifications for each topic and suggestion. Not to mention that I also need to collect primary data from a minimum of 80 respondents. To be honest, it was a bit of a long haul. To ensure I covered all my bases, I ended up diving into numerous amount of research articles. Going through that pile of research publications wasn't the most enjoyable task, but it was a necessary step to make sure I had solid support for my research arguments.
• Observation
• Throughout this research assignment, I observed how finding suitable research articles was quite challenging, as there were not a lot of articles that discussed my research topic. This part took the most time, as I needed to browse through carefully and read each article in order to know if it was actually relevant to my research topic. Some articles were more easily readable than others, mostly because of the skillfully done formatting that effectively presented the information. On the other hand, articles with poor formatting did not hold my interest. Having no distinct headings to point to the relevant content made it difficult for me to read through the information I needed to support my arguments. As a result, some articles were not chosen without much consideration. Furthermore, I observed a variance in the level of citations, which affected my sense of trust in every research article. A few long, in-depth articles lacked enough references and explanations to back up their claims. Since they provided more robust support for their claims, I was inclined to trust articles that had an extensive number of citations in their reference section. This was because I deemed it reliable for fortifying the credibility of my own proposal.
• Findings
• I discovered that there are several important considerations to keep in mind when writing a research paper. This module provided me with a firsthand understanding of the challenges associated with writing a research paper. I realized that it goes beyond simply collecting data; it requires substantial thought, careful consideration, and unwavering dedication to achieve a desirable outcome. A key takeaway from this module and the semester is how important time management is. I ran into difficulties halfway through, since some of my classes had hefty workloads. Taking influence from previous experiences, I refined my strategy by employing effective time management and allocation while also keeping track of my progress. Overall, this module has helped me gain a better understanding and improved my ability to conduct research in the future. It has also given me invaluable insights into how to conduct effective research and opened my mind to new topics within my chosen area of specialization.