Comments

Theme 1

1. I felt the same as you when we started reading about this theme and the seminar also helped me a lot to understand the concepts. Your example with the baby being brought up by dogs is really interesting and I think it is a really clear example of how important it is for us to interpret what we observe. Otherwise, like you are saying, it would not have any meaning. Even though you are saying that you still feel lost and that philosophy is scary, I feel that you have a pretty good grasp of it and can explain what you mean in a way that is easy to understand. Keep it up!
2. I also felt that it was hard to understand what the theme really was about before the lecture and seminar, and frankly I think most of us did. You wrote one thing about a priori knowledge that I feel really made me understand it fully. That a theory is a priori if we can verify it by thinking. That really made it clear to me what a priori really means. 
It would be nice to hear a little bit more about what your thoughts are on the different topics discussed on the seminar and lecture. 
Also, there are several programs were you can comment directly in the pdf on the computer. For example adobe reader. Just a little tip! 
Good job!
3. Really interesting to read your explanation of what a priori and a posteriori knowledge is, and it really makes sense that a priori knowledge should not be able to exist without a posteriori knowledge. Because, like I just read in another blog, a theory is a priori only if we can verify it by thinking. And without the a posteriori knowledge we would not be able to think about anything really. 
Great post! I feel like for every post I read I understand the topic a little bit more.
4. I liked the idea of listening to the podcast before reading the text since it was, at least for me, really hard to dive straight into the text. I can really see that it would be easier to ease in to it by listening to someone else's thoughts first. I feel that you have understood the most important concepts and were able to explain them in a way that is easy to understand. Good job!
5. You say that "A priori means naturalism such as mathematics formulas" which I guess is right. But what I think is an easy way of thinking about what a priori knowledge is that if you can verify a theory by thinking, then it's a priori. An example from the lecture was that all objects takes up space. If you know what an object is you can verify that statement. 
Great post! Keep it up!

Theme 2

1. Hey! Very good job explaining what the differences are between nominalism and realism are. I feel like (and I think you agree) that none of these ways to see the world is going to work on its own. There has to be a mix between them in order for us to truly understand the world and interpret it in a way that leads us to a brighter future.
2. Hello. It is ok to not really understand the concepts before the lecture and seminar. A lot of us got the concepts wrong. I think that nominalism per se is not negative but it can have consequences if that is the only way we see the world. I think that it is important that we mix realism with nominalism in order for us to strive for a better future.
3. Hey! Good job on summarising the concepts in a clear and understandable way. It feels like you really grasped and understand it. Like you said, platonic realism is the opposite of nominalism and I think it is important to be able to interpret the world in both ways for us to go towards a better future. 
Great job!
4. Hello. The differences in time that you bring up is really important. It's interesting how different Benjamin and A&H thinks just because they wrote their texts in different times and cultures. You also decided to focus on other things as opposed to other blog posts, which was interesting to read. Good job!
5. Hello. 
Thank you for the explanation regarding myths and enlightenment. I also had a hard time understanding that and your explanation made it a bit clearer for me. I feel like you have a very good understanding of the concepts. Good job!

Theme 3

1. Hello. 
The discovery of how earth revolve around the sun is a really good example of a paradigm shift which we also talked about on the seminar. That paradigm shift made a lot of theories, that were considered true, false at once. Like you are saying, it is hard to know what truth is, since the paradigm can shift. Maybe a priori knowledge is the only knowledge that can be considered absolutely true. 
Cheerio!
2. Hello.
 Nice summary of what characterises a theory. I agree with your statement that theories should be verifiable, but they can not always be seen as truth. Like you are saying, a theory is only true in our framework or 'paradigm'. When a paradigm shift occurs a lot of theories can all of a sudden be considered false. It is important to always bear that in mind. I also like how you are saying that data is always filtered and subjective, which means that data is useless without a theory. This theme has really made me understand the importance of a well thought out and logical theory to back up your research with. 
Good job!
3. Hello. 
Great summary of the theme! You say that this week's theme was not about theories that tries to explain how things work. But that is exactly what I thought it was about? A theory is something that explains why. I did not spend much time writing about the five different kinds of theories in my blog post so that was interesting to read about and hear your thoughts. 
Great job!
4. Hello. 
First of all, I agree that this theme was much easier to grasp and understand than before. In my opinion that also means that it is harder to write something about it since it just is what it is. It would be nice if you could explain an develop your thoughts a little bit more. It may seem obvious that the theory of God is weak, but I think that you should try to explain why since it would help you and everyone that reads your post to understand exactly what you are talking about. 
Other than that. It feels like you understood this theme. Good job!
5. Hello. 
I don't really agree with the statement that a theory is true when enough people regard it as the truth. Scientific evidence and theories (in the more hard core science) should not be up for discussion and be decided true or not by people and perception. It is also hard to talk about truth. We are always in a framework called a paradigm that more or less decides if a theory can be considered valid or not. There could always be a paradigm shift that falsifies a lot of theories at the same time. An example of a paradigm shift is when we discovered that we evolve around the sun. So it is hard to talk about theories as truth.
I also think that it would be interesting if you talked and reflected a little bit more about what you have learned from the texts, lecture and seminar during this theme.

Theme 4

1. Hello! 
As always, an excellent reflection that is easy to understand. 
I do not think there is an answer to the question: which method is the best, qualitative or quantitative? Just like you are saying, quantitative methods works for simpler questions that needs a simple answer. Qualitative methods are used for the 'wicked problems' that are more complex and can not possibly be answered with yes or no. Quantitative and qualitative are just different methods and are both very good in their respective area.
2. Hello.
 Excellent summary and description of this weeks theme. You explained the differences between quantitative and qualitative research in a way that is easy to understand. It was also interesting to read about how important it is to really think about how you design the questionnaire. It would be nice to hear more about what you think about the different topics, what are your reflections?
 Good job!
3. Hello.
 I also agree that this week's theme was very easy to understand compared to previous themes. Though in my seminar we had some interesting discussions about when and how both qualitative and quantitative methods could be used, like that qualitative methods can be used to design a quantitative method. We also talked about 'wicked problems' and how one analyses data from qualitative methods, something that I was not very familiar with before the seminar.
4. Hello. 
I also found this theme to be easier to understand since it was not so abstract and I already had knowledge about it prior to this week. Just like you are saying I also do not think that one method is better than the other, it totally depends on the problem/question that we a trying to solve/answer. It is very important to choose the method that you know will be able to answer the question. Very complex questions for example could possibly only be answered with a qualitative method. 
Good job on the reflections!
5. Hello.
 A lot of people feel that they did not learn anything new during this theme, and I agree to some extent. I feel that it is really important to prepare for a research and have a really good base to stand on. I do not really know what you mean by that it is ok for us to not be as accurate when creating new questionnaires? Why would not the way we gather data matter just as much as in other fields? That is what we build our theories and analyses on. 
Anyway, good job!

Theme 5

1. Hello.
 Interesting reflections! I also think that both the example with Johnny English and the bear in the forest shows that a problem and solution is not always what it seams to be. I also liked that you linked your reflections to what we learned in a previous course. I agree with you on that one, I am also not sure that 'Genius design' is such a smart idea anymore. Researching and gather different people's thoughts seems like a better but more time consuming idea.
2. Hello.
 Great reflections on the first lecture. I also thought that what Haibo said about defining the problem versus solving the problem was interesting. Though, I think it is a bit misleading to say that we should spend 90% on defining the problem and then 10% solving it. What I mean is that when we are defining the problem we are also trying to solve it. A very good definition of a problem will also give an answer more easy.
3. Hello. 
I also think that the lack of a seminar was not good. Though, I must say that I enjoyed the second lecture, and it almost functioned like a seminar because of the open discussions we had during it. So I do not think it is that bad. I think that the thing Haibo Li said about 90% defining problem and 10% solving is interesting. But are we not solving the problem when we are defining the problem? A really well defined problem are easier to find an answer to.
4. Hello. 
I think the example with the bear, professor and the student is really interesting. You say that the real problem is to outrun the professor. Event though that may be the easiest solution it will end in the professor getting eaten, which is not very nice! I think it is important to search for the easiest solution and the real problem, but that does not mean that it always is the best solution. We also have to think about what is morally right and what everyone benefits from the most.
5. Hello.
 I felt exactly the same as you when we started this theme, that I did not know how much there was to know about design research, it was really interesting. Regarding the thing about defining the problem for 90% of the time and solve it during the remaining 10%. For me, defining the problem is also solving it. The remaining 10% is just picking out the and finding the answer from your really well defined and already solved problem. If that makes any sense…

Theme 6

1. Hello.
 I also thought that the lecture would have made for a better discussion at the seminar since we then would have the necessary basics of the topic. Like you are saying, a case study is more a type of research than a method. Qualitative and quantitative methods can be used in a case study, but it is important to point out that it is possible to use any other methods as well. We are not constrained to any specific guidelines in this area, since case studies mostly is about observing something new and gather knew knowledge. Great reflection, good luck with the last part of the course!
2. Hello. 
I agree with you that the seminars are more thought provoking than the lectures. But in out group that meant that we spent a lot of time on figuring out what a case study is instead of discussing the different aspects of it. We could have gotten the basic information from the lecture beforehand and have a better discussion at the seminar. 
I think you have a very good explanation of what a case study is and I really liked the definition you came up with. I think that a case study does not have to follow any specific guidelines or methods as long as it is logical. The important part is that we are gathering new knowledge of whatever it is that we are observing and studying. Great reflection!
3. Hello. 
I also feel that case studies was more interesting to discuss since we already had a pretty good understanding of what qualitative methods are. 
I do not really understand what you mean with that a case study stops being a case study when there are more objects to study than one? From what I understood, a case study is not at all based on how many subjects you are studying. A case study is more of a type of research. In a case study you can use qualitative and quantitative methods if necessary but it is more about observing and isolating a specific case which you hopefully can gain new knowledge and craft new theories from. 
The number of people in a research does not decide what type of study it is. What it can do is making the study more or less trustworthy. A qualitative method can be built upon just one person, but depending on what the study is about it might not be a very good study.
4. Hello.
 A agree with you that you can mix qualitative and quantitative methods in a research. But I think that it sometimes can make it hard to analyse and compare the different data you get. Like you are saying, a case study is not a method but more a guideline and a tool on how to observe and study a specific case. It does not even have to use a quantitative or qualitative method, the important thing is that it is logical and new knowledge comes from it.
Really nice reflection, good luck on the last part of this course!
5. Hello.
 I have never thought about that a case study does not have a hypothesis, that is interesting. Could that be because you do not want to skew the results you get and be as unbiased as possible? I think that it is really important to not have any presumptions when starting a case study since like you are saying it could end anywhere. I think that it is very free and anything goes as long as it is logical and rational.
Thanks for your thoughts and good luck with the rest of the course!