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Into the Wild: Beyond the Design Research Lab

Part of the book series: Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics ((SAPERE,volume 48))

Abstract

Research in the Wild, a well-trodden phrase in the literature, but how wild is wild? Walking the streets of one of the most deprived areas in the country, or gazing out to sea, from an ‘unspoilt’ valley that, beneath the greenery, is pockmarked with 19th century mine workings. If the way is well signed (according to the tourist literature), does that make it no better than a controlled lab experiment, a repeatable journey. And ‘research’ is maybe no less problematic. If a researcher walks one thousand miles does that make it research in the same way that an artist piling bricks makes it art? This chapter describes a three and half month journey by foot around the periphery of Wales, which takes in the most downtrodden and industrially derelict areas of the country as well as gentrified ‘regenerated’ waterfronts; oil refineries, and picture postcard ‘destinations’. It is a story that is as challenging methodologically as it is physically and mentally; low on systematicity, high on subjectivity, more about uncovering questions than finding answers. The questions raised are as varied as the landscape. What makes one post-industrial community fail whilst another retains its heart? Why does software cope so badly with poor connectivity, making already difficult situations worse? Above all, is there a future for the margins beyond depopulation, retirement coast, or theme park?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.garmin.com.

  2. 2.

    http://www.findmespot.eu/en/.

  3. 3.

    http://www.viewranger.com/.

  4. 4.

    http://www.shareyouradventure.com/.

  5. 5.

    http://ellieharmon.com/.

  6. 6.

    The Affectiv Q is no longer available, but the MIT group that initially produced it has designed an improved wrist worn sensor to be built by a new company Empatica. http://affect.media.mit.edu/projectpages/iCalm/iCalm-2-Q.html.

  7. 7.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romany_Jones.

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks to all those individuals and groups who supported and encouraged me during “Alan Walks Wales”. Thanks too to those who contributed to the crowd-funding initiative and the dot.rural RCUK Digital Economy Hub at University of Aberdeen (http://www.dotrural.ac.uk), which supported this research as part of its partner scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computational Foundry, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK

    Alan Dix

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  1. Alan Dix
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Correspondence to Alan Dix .

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  1. School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Alan Chamberlain

  2. School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Andy Crabtree

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Dix, A. (2020). Step by Step Research. In: Chamberlain, A., Crabtree, A. (eds) Into the Wild: Beyond the Design Research Lab. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, vol 48. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18020-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18020-1_2

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