Introduction : What is architectural research? : The etic and the emic ; Depth and focus as a variable ; Context: methodology: theory ; Thesis: antithesis: synthesis ; Architectural history (not history of architecture) ; Architectural social sciences (not social science of architecture) ; Architectural philosophy (not philosophy of architecture)
Part 1. Fundamentals of architectural research : Defining your research question ; What do you want to find out? ; Defining your terms ; Framing a research question ; Exercises for developing a research question
Defining your research methodology : How can you find something out? ; Conventional research methodologies ; Validating your approach ; Reflective practitioners and practice-based research
Building your literature review : Establishing your field ; Finding relevant works ; Archival research ; Evaluating sources ; How to review a text
Cross-disciplinary working : Defining your discipline ; Identifying cross-disciplinary texts or partners ; Finding common ground and a common language ; Practicalities of cross-disciplinary work ; Collaboration: frameworks and practicalities
Conducting and documenting fieldwork : What is the field? ; Preparing for fieldwork ; Documentation: field notes and sketchbooks ; Recording media: photography, video, audio ; Analyzing your fieldwork
Conducting interviews and communication ; Who should you interview? ; Types of interview ; Recording and transcription ; Analyzing your interviews
Writing up : Knowing your audience ; Your duty to the reader: structuring your writing
Part 2. Practical applications and case studies : Material culture : The commodity status of things ; Entanglements of people and things ; Stuff as cultural indicator ; Case study : The cart at assemblage
Environmental psychology : James Gibson and alternative approaches to space ; People-environment studies ; Case study: `Inflecting space'
Architectural histories : Historiography of architecture: historians and their histories ; Case study: The architectural manifesto
The politics of space : Politics and the language of architecture ; The right to the city ; Society of the spectacle ; Case study: `Cultures of legibility'
Philosophy, phenomenology and the experience of space : Applications of philosophy to architecture ; Linguistic analogies in architecture ; Dwelling and being-in-space ; Case study: Sensory notation
Ethnographic research : Conducting ethnographic research ; Writing culture ; Using ethnographic research by others ; Case study: Ethnographies of creative practice: experiment or ethnography?
Drawing, diagrams and maps : A practice native to architecture ; The sketchbook as a storeroom for ideas ; Case study: `Getting Lost in Tokyo'
Conclusion: Theory and practice
