Trend Research: A Methodological Proposal

The present thesis intends to propose a new theoretical methodology for trend research. To construct it, it is necessary to comprehend the flaws and limitations that the current methodologies exhibit and identify the features that a trend research process must contain. Therefore, the first and the second chapters conduct an in-depth investigation of the context, domain, evolutions, methods, and practical approaches of trend research and field research. This last one assumes a predominant role in the process of identification and analysis of emerging trends, as it investigates the meanings that humans attribute to actions and events in their cultural world. The third chapter achieves the goal, it proposes a new holistic transversal and systematic methodology for trend research that balances structure with the necessity for flexibility, and objectivity and rigorousness with the necessity for intuition and creativity. The last part of the chapter presents TrendGen, a practical application of the new methodology of trend research conceived for high school students belonging to Generation Z.