Module 4: The Interdisciplinary Research Process
4.3 Identifying Disciplines Relevant to the Problem
There are several reasons why interdisciplinarians are interested in viewing the subject from different perspectives according to Repko et al., (2013). Perspective taking:
- “is a key feature of interdisciplinarity that is necessitated by complexity”
- “enables us to see the relevance of other perspectives”
- “illumines our understanding of the problem as a whole”
- “reduces the possibility of making poor decisions”
- “exposes the strengths and limitations of disciplines” (p. 147-150).
In this step, you will consider what disciplinary perspectives should be considered for your research problem.
One way to do this is to brainstorm from your current knowledge what disciplines are relevant to the problem. If my problem is retention of adult students in online courses, I may be thinking education is relevant to the problem, but I may not know what other disciplines, if any, are concerned with this problem.
Another way to determine which disciplines are relevant is to begin looking for research articles on your problem and determine who is writing about it and what is their disciplinary background. I can begin searching for articles in an MTSU library database using the search terms: retention, adult students, and online. I will find articles written by faculty with backgrounds in Higher Education, Psychology, and Instructional Technology. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your faculty member to brainstorm which disciplines may be relevant. Also, you can chat, call, or schedule a session with a research librarian at Ask Us (FAQ, Chat, Email).
References
Repko, A. F., Szostak, R., & Buchberger, M. P. (2014). Thinking critically about disciplinary perspectives. Introduction to interdisciplinary studies (1st ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
