Hi Jack, I did my Masters by research actually, and I thought I would provide my 2 cents. ;P
The question in my view is not about a finished product ready to be launched and used, as that goes beyond the research area, and involves other items that are more inline to business. It all depends on the expectations and purpose of the thesis. Usually it is bring you through the process of research and second your research questions. >From a process perspective, a theory only research would do, no need to proof practically if your research is applicable. >From a research standpoint, the question is has the thesis questions been answered using the work that has been created. I would think you would need to create a prototype that can show how it can and will be used and how it answers your questions you started out with. But, without a usable prototype it would be hard to show how your research can help and does solve the questions. But I have read a lot of research papers which are very much theory based without any practical implementations or minimal emphasis on them. Regards, Jay Kumar On 12/13/07, Jack Moffett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I took part yesterday in a Thesis Committee meeting for a student > working on a project for her Masters degree in design. She is > designing a website with the purpose of facilitating a community for > female cancer victims. There was a fair amount of discussion > surrounding how far she must take the project to be granted the > degree. There were faculty members on the committee from other visual > arts disciplines, and they expect a thesis project to result in a > finished work of art. There was some discomfort in the suggestion that > the website would not have to be implemented and put into use for her > to complete her thesis and her degree. > > While the student very much wants to build and launch the site and is > working on getting the sponsorship/funding and collaborators with the > necessary skill sets to make it a reality, it is my own opinion that > her thesis is much more about the process she followed and what she > has learned than it is about the final artifact. I and the other > design faculty argued that as long as the design was completed > satisfactorily, she could deliver her thesis and receive her degree > before implementation has finished. > > I know that when I was working on my own Masters degree, there was no > expectation that my project would result in running software. With the > advances in web application development in recent years, and with > technologies such as Ruby on Rails and Flash making "running software" > a more accessible possibility to those without a degree in software > engineering, I wonder if expectations are increasing. > > I'd like to hear what the IxDA community thinks about it. > > Best, > Jack > > > > Jack L. Moffett > Interaction Designer > inmedius > 412.459.0310 x219 > http://www.inmedius.com > > > There is no good design that is not > based on the understanding of people. > > - Stefano Marzano > CEO of Philips Design > > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
