ABSTRACT
Communication failures had often occurred in designer-researcher collaborations. It was hypothesized that they may be due to the conflict of Analytic and Relational conceptual styles among them. Exploratory data were collected from conference participants, 97:200 of whom returned mailed tests of conceptual style. Analytic and Relational styles had been empirically related to certain classic communication failures in other groups, it was hypothesized that designer-researcher problems might be similarly explained. The Flexible and Relational styles are, conversely, subject-oriented styles as they place salience on person-person relationships. The entire group appeared, in the context of thousands of such responses, to be more homogeneous in conceptual style than many occupational groups. However, such observations as the distinction between teacher or discipline carrier and designer in their field articulation scores seem to warrant further research. Social origins of the respondents were similarly those associated with the development of the Concrete style.
