Research Methods In Architecture

Good architectural research does more than collect information—it turns complex questions about buildings, people, places, and performance into credible evidence for better decisions.

Research Methods in Architecture gives you a structured, accessible guide to planning and conducting rigorous inquiry across architecture and the built environment. Whether you are preparing a dissertation, evaluating a completed building, investigating urban space, or strengthening evidence-based design decisions, this book helps you choose methods that genuinely fit your research question.
Inside, you will learn how to:

• Formulate focused research questions, aims, hypotheses, and conceptual frameworks
• Conduct literature reviews and evaluate the quality of available evidence
• Apply interviews, surveys, ethnography, case studies, observation, and documentary analysis
• Understand sampling, descriptive statistics, experimental design, and quantitative analysis
• Combine qualitative and quantitative evidence through mixed-methods research
• Use post-occupancy evaluation, GIS, space syntax, simulation, and computational modeling
• Navigate research ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, validity, reliability, and bias
• Communicate findings through dissertations, reports, presentations, and design recommendations

Organized across 30 substantial chapters, the book connects foundational research principles with architecture-specific applications. It also examines emerging areas such as sensor-generated data, machine learning, climate research, open science, participatory inquiry, and research equity.
Instead of promoting one universal methodology, Ryan Phlean shows you how to assess the strengths, limitations, and appropriate uses of multiple approaches. The result is a practical architectural research methods reference that supports both academic work and professional practice.

Build a defensible study, interpret evidence responsibly, and make your next design decision with greater confidence—get your copy today.