Emerging Epistemic Communities and Cultures of Evidence. On the Practice of Assessment of Research in the Creative Fields

Book chapter, 2017

This chapter discusses the theoretical frameworks around the concept of doctorateness and how this could be considered in the field of architecture, design and arts. The authors use a study of the assessment of PhD theses at one institution as the base for reflections on how the assessment practice and its frameworks have changed and also can be elaborated further. The chapter also summarises some aspects of the authors’ previous writings based on their experience of research training and research assessment in several European environments, sometimes in joint studies together with doctoral students from various backgrounds and contexts. The assessment of doctorateness in the field of architecture, design and the arts has developed to include more of the field-specific character of the discipline and professional practice, and has in new ways engaged the emerging communities of ‘practitioner-researcher’ with their multiple competences and backgrounds.