HOW TO VALIDATE RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING DESIGN?
Year: 2011
Editor: Culley, S.J.; Hicks, B.J.; McAloone, T.C.; Howard, T.J. & Reich, Y.
Author: Barth, Alex; Caillaud, Emmanuel; Rose, Bertrand
Series: ICED
Section: Design Theory and Research Methodology
Page(s): 41-50
Abstract
Research in engineering design is a rapidly growing field of interest with an increasingly complex and multi-disciplinary nature, and it has been difficult for researchers to structure its contents. This paper conducts a literature review of 71 publications from the past five years in the Journal of Research in Engineering Design. The goal is to look for correlations between types of research and the types of validation in hopes to improve the quality of research in engineering design and to aid researchers in the search for a common methodology. By analyzing the contents of each paper, a way of classifying the types of research and validation is developed. Due to a lack of application of research studies in real industrial settings, this paper also asks the question: is an industrial validation mandatory? The classification of papers in the field may provide clarification for understanding and potentially allow for some important distinctions in design methodology. The survey of the literature, combined with the results of this study, indicate that there is room for improvement in the field of research in engineering design, and this paper hopes to add support to that improvement.
Keywords: VALIDATION; DESIGN RESEARCH