Validity and Reliability in Built Environment Research

Design Innovation for the Built Environment: Research by Design and the Renovation of Practice, edited by Michael U. Hensel, an architect, professor, and expert in architecture tectonics at the Oslo School of Architecture—brings in one volume 16 chapters by over 20 scholars and academics from around the globe. This new publication presents provocative ideas about the present and the future of practice and pedagogy in built environment-related disciplines, as well as how they can be adopted and adapted to promote and support design innovation. Hensel adeptly puts together 16 contributions of committed expert academics and professionals into a unified volume that speaks to academics and professionals. Appreciating the potential opportunities that knowledge can create, contributions pave the road for a responsive built environment education and practice.

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Addressing Socio-technical Issues in Built Environment Research: A Philosophical Premise

Urban Development Issues ◽

10.2478/udi-2020-0004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 45-52

Author(s):

Maren Mallo Daniel ◽

Jurbe Joseph Molwus ◽

Joseph Tanko Nkup ◽

Nenrot Gombwer Wuyokwe

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Research Methods ◽

Social Research ◽

Qualitative Approach ◽

Interpretive Research ◽

Fire Incident ◽

Environment Research ◽

Research Problems ◽

Technical Issues ◽

Single Method

AbstractResearchers within the built environment disciplines have increasingly drawn on a plurality of social methods in order to enrich their research. Three decades down the line the place of philosophy in the choice of appropriate research methods is yet to be appreciated by some built environment researchers. Consequently, a lack of adventure in interpretive research, wrong choice of methods and underrepresentation of the qualitative approach are reported, which suggests the existence of a knowledge gap. This study is aimed at illustrating the philosophical premise for employing social research methods to address socio-technical issues in built environment research. In achieving this, reference was made to a fire incident in a student dormitory in Nigeria as a problem upon which contrasting–subjectivist and objectivist–philosophical positions were examined. The consideration of these philosophical positions and the choices that resulted from both spectrums were seen to have their strengths and weaknesses. To offset the weaknesses in each approach while also leveraging on the strengths that each approach offers, the paper illustrated how a compromise–pragmatist–position can be reached to allow for the choice of, and mixing of multi-methods to solve research problems that could not be adequately solved using any single method.

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