Doing Sociology with the Design Professions

This paper builds on twin assumptions that human behavior and physical places influence one another, and that design and planning should therefore be sensitive to the users of the built environment. Sociologists have a key role to play in shaping the built environment: they can bring the users\u27 concerns to the design and planning process. Predesign research, research on the design process, and postoccupancy evaluation research are among the tools utilized by clinical sociologists working with environmental and design issues. Criteria to employ in selecting design research methods are identified and nine specific methods are ranked on those criteria and explained