ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews how design research is conceived. It discusses some ideas, developed mainly in the academic world, which allow us to comprehend how this activity is understood and exercised. These ideas represent a first approach to the subject. Some authors see research as the appropriate means for innovation and the proper practice of design, and they integrate research methods or techniques into the process. Research for design generally has the lowest level of acceptance within the rigorous academic community. It is usually the designer themself who carries it out and works commonly from the scope of their competence. The chapter presents some well-known and referred contributions in the specialized academic field. With the purpose of systematizing and understanding better the research regarding design and art, Sir Christopher Frayling, based on a previous work by Herbert Read about education through art, proposed that research can be classified into three categories: research for design, research into design, and research through design.
