The document outlines a methodology for directed research. It includes steps such as creating a list of topics, asking questions through informal conversations, embracing trial and error, consulting unlikely authorities, looking at context, playing games to generate unexpected results, finding trends in data, sharing findings, and proposing thesis topics. Thesis topics proposed are on the effects of physical environments on social interaction, facilitating aid for disaster victims through social media, and using design to raise awareness and empower change for underrepresented groups.

1. Methodology
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein
Summer 2013

2. Find a
Topic
External
Research
Unexpected
Research
Conclusions &
Direction
Internal
Research
Write a list
Ethnography
Informal conversations
Play a game
Consult unlikely
authoritiesTrial and error
Find trends
Share the results
Start production
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Create a list
Free write all you know about the problem.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ask questions
Be curious
Start conversations surrounding your topic.
Talk to people who are experts in their field.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Embrace the messy
process of trial and error
Fail spectacularly.
Don’t be afraid to start over.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Consult unlikely
authorities
Apply lessons learned from unrelated fields
to your topic.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

7. Look at the context
of the problem
Examine the societal and circumstantial
influence on the problem.
Why does this issue exist in the first place?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

8. Create an experiment
Play a game
By letting others to express themselves
through playing a game, it creates an
opportunity for unexpected results.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

9. Throw something
Throwing an object taps into your
primal instincts.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

10. Find consistencies
and trends
Sort the findings and see what fits together.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

11. Reflect on the findings
Stop gathering information and start
drawing conclusions.
If there are holes in findings, go back to step 2.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

12. Share the goods
Make your findings public and invite
comments and feedback.
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Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

13. 3 Thesis Proposals
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

14. Social interaction and the physical environment.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

15. Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

16. Social interaction and the surrounding
environment
I am studying the effects of physical space and its effect
on the mood of a gathering of people.
I want to know how social situations and social
interaction are influenced by the surrounding
environment.
This will help my reader create environments that will
nurture the social situations they desire. And it will
influence the way events are designed in the future.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein
1.

17. Relief in the face of a natural disaster
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

18. Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

19. Relief in the face of a natural disaster
I am studying the ways in which victims of natural disasters
can be helped by people who want to make a difference.
I want to know how social media and interactivity can
facilitate the flow of aid and supplies to the victims.
This will help my reader feel like they are making a
difference in someone’s life, rather than simply giving money
to a faceless charity.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein
2.

20. Social Commentary and Social Change.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

23. The design of empowerment.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein

24. Social commentary and social change.
The design of empowerment.
I want to study the way that design can draw attention
to a social issue and also transform the problem at the
same time.
Because design can be used to create awareness and
call people into action, it can also be an agent of
change by transforming people’s lives directly.
This will help my reader hear the voices of an under
represented demographic or social issue. And at the
same time be empowered to help change the problem.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein
3.

25. 1. Social interaction and the physical environment.
3. Social Commentary and Social Change.
The design of empowerment.
2. Relief in the face of a natural disaster.
Allen Spector | Directed Research | Tom Klinkowstein