Over the past ten or more years, scholars in the field of environment and behavior (E&B) have expressed concerns repeatedly about the use of research information by professional designers and planners. However, the question of how we would know when we achieved this research use apparently has been assumed to be known. This article discusses how other fields have studied how research is used by practitioners of those fields and how E&B can begin to address those concerns.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ALTMAN, I. (1973) "Some perspectives on the study of man-environment phenomena," pp. 102-110, in W. Preiser (ed.) Proceedings, Environmental Design Research Association 4. Stroudsburg, PA. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross.
2.
ARCHIBALD, K. (1968) The Utilization of Social Research Policy Analysis. Ph.D. dissertation, George Washington University.
3.
ARNSTEIN, S. R. and A. N. CHRISTAKIS, [eds.] (1975) Perspectives on Tech- nology Assessment. Jerusalem, Israel: Science and Technology Publishers.
4.
BECHTEL, R. B. (1979) "Architect-researcher collaboration: a defining of roles and a negotiation of rules," pp. 437-439, in S. Weidemann et al. (eds.) Priorities for Environmental Design Research. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
5.
BERG, M. R. (1978) The Use of Technology Assessment Studies in Policy-Making. Ann Arbor: Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan.
6.
CAPLAN, N. (1975) "A minimal set of conditions necessary for the utilization of social science knowledge in policy formulation at the national level." Prepared for the Conference on Science Values and Social Engineering, International Sociological Association, April. Ann Arbor: Centerfor Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
7.
CAPLAN, N. and E. BARTON (1976) Social Indicators 1973: A Study of the Relationship between the Power of Information and Utilization by Federal Executives. Ann Arbor: Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
8.
CAPLAN, N. , A. MORRISON and R. J. STAMBAUGH (1975) The Use of Social Science Knowledge on Policy Decisions at the National Level. Ann Arbor: Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
9.
CONWAY, D. and M. R. GOGLIA (1978) "How architects can read, comprehend and evaluate research papers about human-environment relations," pp. 3-18, in W. E. Rogers and W. H. Ittelson (eds.) New Directions in Environmental Design Research. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Associa- tion.
10.
GLASER, E. M. and S. H. TAYLOR (1973) "Factors influencing the success of applied research."American Psychologist (February): 140-146.
11.
HAVELOCK, R. G. (1973) What Do We Know from Research about the Process of Research Utilization? Ann Arbor: Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
12.
HOWLAND, C. I. , I. L. JANIS, and H. H. KELLEY (1953) Communication and Persuasion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
13.
KATZ, D. and P. F. LAZARSFELD (1955) Personal Influence: The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communications. New York: Free Press.
14.
KOROBKIN, B. (1975) Images for Design: Communicating Social Science to Architects. Washington, DC: American Institute of Architects.
15.
LANE, N. (1972) An Evaluation of Architectural Information Systems. Urbana, IL: Construction Engineering Research Laboratory.
16.
LEDBETTER, C. B. (1978) "Collaboration of architect and behavioral scientist in research," pp. 30-42, in W. E. Rogers and W. H. Ittelson (eds.) New Directions in Environmental Design Research. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
17.
McCUE, G. and W. Ewald (1970) Creating the Human Environment. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
18.
MERRILL, J. (1976) Factors Influencing the Use of Behavioral Research in Design. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan.
19.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; Glaser, et al.) (1971) Planning for Creative Change in Mental Health Services: A Distillation of Principles on Research Utilization (Vols. I & II). Washington, DC: Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW) and NIMH. DHEW Publication No. (HMS) 73-91 48.
20.
PURCELL, T. , and T. HEATH (1982) "The two communities: is there a common focus for designer-researcher collaboration?" pp. 3-15, in P. Bart et al. (eds.) Knowledge for Design. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
21.
REIZENSTEIN, J. (1975) "Linking social research and design."J. of Architectural Research4(3).
22.
RIBA Research Committee (1970) "Strategies for architectural research."Archi- tectural Research and Teaching (May): 3-5.
23.
ROGERS, E. H. and F. F. SHOEMAKER (1971) Communication of Innovation. New York: Free Press.
24.
ROSS, R. P. and D. E. CAMPBELL. (1978) "A review of the EDRA proceedings: where have we been? Where are we going?" pp. 43-54, in W. E. Rogers and W. H. Ittelson (eds.) New Directions in Environmental Design Research. Wash- ington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
25.
SCHRAMM, W. (1963) "Communication research in the United States," pp. 1-16 in W. SCHRAMM (ed.) The Science of Communication. New York: Basic Books.
26.
SEIDEL, A. D. (1983) "Producing usable research: a selected review."Policy Studies Review. 3(1): pp. 52-56.
27.
SEIDEL, A. D. (1981a) "How designers evaluate information and why researchers may not care." pp. 91-98 in A Osterberg et al. (eds.) Design Research Interactions. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
28.
SEIDEL, A. D. (1981b) "Teaching environment and behavior: have we reached the design studio?"J. of Architectural Education24 (Spring): 8-13.
29.
SEIDEL, A. D. (1981c) "Underutilized research: researchers' and decision-makers' con- ceptions of information quality."Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization. 3(2): 233-248.
30.
SEIDEL, A. D. (1980) Factors Influencing Conceptions of Information Quality in the Production and Utilization of Environment and Behavior Research. Buffalo: State University of New York.
31.
SEIDEL, A. D. (1979) "Our concern for research utilization continues," pp. 219-223, in A. D. Seidel and G. S. Danford (eds.) Environmental Design: Research, Theory, and Application. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Associa- tion.
32.
SEIDEL, A. D. (1978) Research Utilization by Architects and Planners: A Bibliography. Monticello, IL: Vance Bibliographies.
33.
SEIDEL, A. D. and G. S. DANFORD (eds.) (1979) Environmental Design: Research, Theory, and Application. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
34.
WEHRLI, R. (1974) "The performance concept as a model linking research and design," pp. 51-62 in D. Carson (ed.) EDRA 5 Proceedings. Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
35.
WEISS, C. H. with M. J. BUCUVALAS (1980) Social Science Research and Decision-Making. New York: Columbia University Press.