An Evaluation of The Relationship Between Social and Natural Phenomena in terms of Forming Knowledge in an Interdisciplinary Research Area: Architectural Acoustics

ABSTRACT Scientific knowledge in the field of acoustics includes both qualitative and quantitative data where objective measurement values and subjective quality ratings overlap and create a general understanding about the relationship between people and sounds. Architectural acoustics experts are expected to have knowledge about both sound theory and architectural design. In this paper, the history of architectural acoustics and the knowledge formation methods were evaluated in terms of philosophical approaches of contemporary philosophers like Robert Audi, Norman Blaikie, Martyn Hammersley and Karl Popper. In terms of philosophy of science, architectural acoustics has epistemologically an empiricist, ontologically a shallow realist stand point. It has a strict relationship with culture and limitations of human hearing. This field of research needs also to adopt subtle realist ontology in the studies. This paper also includes historical information about theoretical beginnings of architectural acoustics. Historical emergence of important scientific terms like reverberation time, normal loudness curves and subjective parameters for concert hall acoustics are discussed. This paper covers epistemological and ontological approaches in architectural acoustics which are commonly used or neglected while forming knowledge. The practical use of acoustic knowledge and its relativity considering different case examples are discussed in the paper.