Research Design and Field Studies

The aim of the course is to give the students the theoretical and methodical on how to carry out a master project associated with media design and/or interaction design. Through participating in the course, the students will develop a concept for a research project, which will be grounded in user data collected for the project.

The course is organized as a series of modules that together will lead to the development of a master project.The students will conduct an empirical study of potential target groups for their project, and develop a project description.

The course exam is an individual project description. In those cases where the students wish to collaborate on a master's project, they provide one project description each that depicts how the different subprojects are connected.

A student who has completed the course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• Can write a clear description of a planned research project in media and interaction design.
• Can choose relevant theories and methods in the planning of a practice-based research project

Skills

The student

• Can integrate ideas related to software development and media design into a research and development project.
• Can use qualitative methods for the assessment of user experience associated with a medium.
• Can plan and perform user studies in line with relevant ethical standards.
• Can obtain scientific literature related to specific research questions.

General competence

The student

• Can evaluate ethical and methodological issues related to a specific research and development project within media and interaction design.
• Can plan and carry out empirical studies for understanding users of a specific media technology, and evaluate the ethical implications of the study.