Empirical research in engineering practice Saeema Ahmed Department of Mechanical Engineering, Section of Engineering Design, Technical University of Denmark, Building 404, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark E-mail: sah@mek.dtu.dk Abstract: Increasingly engineering design research involves the use of empirical studies that are conducted within an industrial environment (Ahmed, 2001; Court, 1995; Hales, 1987). Research into the use of information by designers, or understanding how engineers build up experience are examples of research areas that often use methods such as interviews, observations and protocol analyses. These methods are traditionally associated with the social sciences, and usually with experiments set within a laboratory environment. The use of such methods in an industrial environment has created a new set of research issues. This paper describes empirical research methods employed in industry case studies focusing upon information, knowledge and experience in engineering design. The paper describes the methods, their suitability for the particular research aims, and the advantages and disadvantages of the methods, and describes two case studies in detail. The paper draws conclusions from the studies reviewed of the use of empirical research methods in industry. Keywords: empirical research; engineering design; ethnography; experience information; knowledge; observations; research methodology. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Ahmed, S. (0000) `Empirical research in engineering practice', J. Design Research, Vol. 00, Nos. 0/0, pp.000±000. Biographical notes: Saeema Ahmed undertook her PhD in Engineering Design at the University of Cambridge. She was elected college lecturer and fellow at New Hall in 2001 and continued as a research associate at the Engineering Design Centre in Cambridge. She is currently an associate professor at the Technical University of Denmark (since 2005). Her research interests focus upon design knowledge and cognition, including ontology, engineering knowledge management, design thinking and user observation approaches. She employs empirical research methods in close collaboration with industry. 1 Introduction The effective management of information, knowledge and experience is of increasing concern within the engineering industry, in particular amongst large manufacturing industries such as automotive or aerospace. Current industrial pressures include trends towards globalisation, the possibilities of working in teams that may no longer be co-located and the possibility of outsourcing design tasks. In addition, industry is constantly demanding improvements in quality, shorter lead times and reduced cost Journal of Design Research, Vol. 0, Nos. 0/0, 0000 1 Copyright # 0000 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Journal Of Design 2007 Vol 6 No 3