Design-based Research and Research-based Design: New Methodological Perspectives in Social Studies (on the Example of Educational Research)

The article discusses the relationship between the researcher’s external (ethical) and applied (internal/emic) positions towards the subject of the study based on the introduction of the so-called (educational) design research from a theoretical-methodological perspective. Regardless of the researcher’s aim and in that case, dual roles – the scientific-cognitive viewpoint (theoretical) and the practical-applied one – complement one another. In design research, as an epistemological genre, these two viewpoints are taken simultaneously throughout the research. The key features are, first and foremost, the dual aim and the ongoing ad hoc updates in the decisions; second, the iterative nature of the process; and third, the ongoing involvement of the researcher as a practitioner with a specific assignment and the frequent direct engagement of stakeholders from the practice field (education) in the research procedures and analysis. This introduction of Educational Design Research and its methodological specifics is based on the author’s experience within a three-year doctoral study with the methodology implemented for the first time in Bulgaria in the context of higher education with a brief discussion of procedures or results.