6.4 Interdisciplinary Integration

“Interdisciplinary integration can be defined as the synthesis of two or more disciplinary insights – drawn from different perspectives – into new knowledge. An important step in integration is to identify which disciplines are necessary for a complete understanding of the problem,” (Rutting, et. al., 2016, p.  42). This is the final step of the Broad model.

According to Rutting, et. al., communication is the first step toward integration. “An open mind and the courage to step outside of one’s comfort zone are essential characteristics for a productive dialogue,” (p. 43).

They discuss three techniques for integration: “First, one can add one or more elements from another discipline to a certain disciplinary theory, method, or result. Second, disciplinary theories, methods, or results can be adjusted using insights from other disciplines and, third, in some cases it is possible to connect several disciplines around a central idea. Note that in practice a combination of these techniques is not uncommon,” (p. 44). 

References

Rutting, L., Post, G., Keestra, M., de Roo, M., Blad, S., & de Greef, L. (2016). Interdisciplinary integration. In S. Menken & M. Keestra (Eds.), An introduction to interdisciplinary research: Theory and practice (pp. 41-49). Amsterdam University Press.