Ben Martins response

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Ben Martins response

• I agree!
• BUT

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Academic research must be inter-disciplinary in
order to contribute effectively to solving urgent
contemporary policy problems
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Conclusion

• Research effort must focus across the natural
  and social sciences (i.e. be at least
  multi-disciplinary) in order to contribute
  effectively to solving urgent contemporary policy
  problems

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What is inter-disciplinary research?

• Multi-disciplinary Research involving several
  disciplines but not requiring shared constructs
• Inter-disciplinary A common language and
  cooperation within a shared framework for
  analysis
• Trans-disciplinary Unification of disciplines
  ? at the paradigmatic level requiring a shared
  ontological and epistemological position
  disciplinary??
• Source Harvey (2006)

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Harvey?

• Evaluating transdisciplinary science
• D Stokols, J Fuqua, J Gress, R Harvey, K
  Phillips, L
• Nicotine Tobacco Research, 2003 ... she
  differentiates between multi-disciplinary,
  interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary
  collaboration ...
• one moves from multidisciplinary to
  transdisciplinary ...

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Multi- VS Inter- VS Trans- Disciplinary

• Rosenfield, PL. Soc Sci Med, 1992 35 134357.
• Multidisciplinarity - a process whereby
  researchers in different disciplines work
  independently or sequentially, each from his or
  her own disciplinary perspective, to address a
  particular research topic
• Interdisciplinarity - involves greater sharing of
  information and closer coordination among
  researchers from different fields than occur in
  multidisciplinary projects, but the participants
  remain anchored in their respective disciplinary
  perspectives and stop short of achieving the
  novel and integrative conceptual models that are
  the hallmark of transdisciplinary research.
• Transdisciplinarity - a process by which
  researchers work together to develop a shared
  conceptual framework that integrates and extends
  discipline specific theories, concepts, and
  methods to address a common research problem

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Rosenfield (1992)

• Argues that creative potential of
  cross-disciplinary collaboration increases as
  scientists move from multidisciplinary and
  interdisciplinary projects toward
  transdisciplinary research.
• The latter entails more extensive collaborative
  dialogue among co-investigators, and thus is more
  likely to yield conceptual integrations NB of
  broader scope and societal impact than those
  associated with multidisciplinary and
  interdisciplinary strategies.

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But what is a discipline?

• Treated rather unproblematically by Ockwell,
  Harvey and Rosenfeld
• But a discipline is
• a social construct (a convenient label)
• with very fuzzy boundaries
• that evolves over time
• Before early 1800s, no disciplines -
  philosophy covered everything (apart from
  theology, law medicine separate faculties)
• Since then, new disciplines often emerged from
  previous multi- (or trans-) disciplinary research
• Experimental psychology
• Biochemistry
• Cognitive science

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Characteristics of a discipline

• Shared paradigm
• PhD recruits trained in the field
• Own journals
• Departments etc. with name in title
• Own, regular conferences
• Own funding sources
• Is science policy close to becoming a
  discipline?

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Is a multi-disciplinary approach always essential?

• Ockwell
• Economics (neo-classical) fails to account for
  role of natural resources ecosystem services in
  functioning of the economy
• Therefore need some combination of natural and
  social sciences to address
• i.e. environmental/ecological economics
• But what if, at some point in the future,
  ecological economics becomes a discipline?