국내 헬스케어디자인 연구의 방법론적 특징

Abstract

Background: This paper purports to analyze the methodological characteristics of Korean healthcare design research. This is a follow-up research series paper that deepens the author’s preceding meta analysis (Lee et al., 2019a; Lee et al., 2019b), focusing the analysis on the research method. With this, I identify what the mainstream research method is in Korean healthcare design research and what research methods are preferred in specific studies. Methods: This study performs the following analysis on a total of 1,117 Korean healthcare design research papers collected by the first meta analysis (Lee et al., 2019a). (1) Research methods are further subdivided and categorized than in preceding meta analysis. First, they are divided into a single-method using only one method and a multi-method using two or more methods simultaneously. Each method is then divided into several detailed types again. (2) Through cross-tabulation between research methods and research subjects, I identify which type of research method is most preferred for each research subject. (3) The characteristics and representative research cases of the multi-methods that this study newly highlights are analyzed. Result: The methodological characteristics of Korean healthcare design research are as follows. (1) The mainstream research methods differ depending on the research subjects classified into design areas. Spatial studies tend to favor case analysis, and visual information and product studies prefer experiment and production. (2) While there are a number of studies using multi-methods, the subtypes of the most preferred multi-methods also differ depending on the research subject. (3) The multi-method study is likely to diversify and deepen the analysis by richly collecting various quantitative and qualitative data. Conclusion: This study has significance that it was the first to highlight the methodological characteristics of Korean healthcare design research. Through this, it showed that there is an positivistic orientation throughout the research field and that multi-methods can be effective. If multi-methods of various combinations are devised and research design models are presented as a guide for research through follow-up studies, a breakthrough in methodology will provide a chance for further development of healthcare design research.