Introduction to methodology: Virtual special issue for the journal of design history 2018

Abstract

Design historians generally avoid extended self-reflection or discussion of how they conduct research. Typically, they use historical research methods, yet design historians have also used methods borrowed from art history, cultural and literary studies, anthropology, sociology or other social sciences. This Virtual Special Issue, comprising articles drawn from past issues of the Journal of Design History, addresses the state of design history's methodology. While few authors in the Journal have focused specifically on the topic of methodology, their implicit adoption of an eclectic variety of research methods over the past thirty years is revealing. This Introduction seeks to contextualize a collection of twelve articles within a brief overview of methodologies in history, art history and design history. The articles are then linked to scholarship beyond the Journal of Design History, and the final section presents additional methodological possibilities for design historians.