Research Methods in Behavioral Sciences and Their Applications in Architecture

Architects and other environmental designers, for having a good design approach, need knowledge in three areas: natural environment, human-made environment, and the relationship between humans and the environment (natural and artificial). Research in this field has been significant in the past three decades, and architects' knowledge about the natural environment has increased based on experimental sciences and technological approaches. In this area, human issues and the relationship between humans and the environment have been studied from various perspectives. Fundamentally, architectural theoretical foundations are very sensitive in this field. While there is no comprehensive definition of an architect's personal characteristics that allows testing and understanding human and environmental aspects, which includes psychological, social, and cultural sciences. For scientific justification, considering the importance of behavioral sciences, environmental psychology, and research methods in these areas, we have examined and compared these methods and their application areas in six groups: motivational, cognitive, phenomenological, psychological, behavioral, and performance-oriented. In each research approach, depending on the subject of study and correct understanding, one can use a combination of these approaches and their strengths and weaknesses.