This book, then, is intended as a “stand alone” volume that (1) demonstrates the need for using an explicitly interdisciplinary approach to problems that span multiple disciplines, (2) applies interdisciplinary theory and best practices to a particular set of problems, (3) shows the importance of first creating common ground among conflicting expert views before performing integration, and (4) produces new understandings of these problems that are practical, purposeful, and deeply informed by disciplinary expertise
In higher education, case studies can be utilized to have students put themselves into problems faced by a protagonist and, by doing so, address academic or career-related issues. Working through these issues provides students with an opportunity to gain applied perspective and experiences. Professors in higher education who choose this method of teaching require navigational tools to ensure that students achieve stated learning objectives. Case Study Methodology in Higher Education is an essential research publication that focuses on the history and theories relating to case study methodology including techniques for writing case studies and utilizing them in university settings to prepare students for real-life career-related scenarios. This publication features a wide range of topics such as educational leadership, case writing, and teacher education. It is essential for educators, career professionals, higher education faculty, researchers, and students.
It is now widely recognized that research on human health requires more than a focus on human biology and disease entities. Lifestyles, attitudes, stress, education, income--all are now understood to contribute to the spread of disease, the effectiveness of curative therapies, and the prevention of illness, as well as to good health and an enhanced sense of well-being. However, despite such developments and the rise of interdisciplinary research, there is still considerable debate about how best to conduct research and shape policies that insightfully integrate concepts and methods drawn from the full range of the health, social, and behavioral sciences. Moreover, scholars and researchers who wish to engage in such interdisciplinary inquiry have no texts that serve as substantive and practical guides to the most effective avenues. This volume fills this unfortunate gap by presenting a series of case studies that provide a variety of illustrative models of how best to undertake interdisciplinary research on health. All the authors have successfully carried out innovative, collaborative research programs; they give compelling accounts of the benefits of interdisciplinary research, and the central strategies required for successfully achieving such benefits. This volume will be an invaluable resource for scholars and scientists, as well as for decision-makers in academic settings, foundations, and government agencies seeking to develop and promote interdisciplinary programs that expand the boundaries of research dedicated to improving human health and well-being.
Enhancing Communication & Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research, edited by Michael O'Rourke, Stephen Crowley, Sanford D. Eigenbrode, and J. D. Wulfhorst, is a volume of previously unpublished, state-of-the-art chapters on interdisciplinary communication and collaboration written by leading figures and promising junior scholars in the world of interdisciplinary research, education, and administration. Designed to inform both teaching and research, this innovative book covers the spectrum of interdisciplinary activity, offering a timely emphasis on collaborative interdisciplinary work. The book’s four main parts focus on theoretical perspectives, case studies, communication tools, and institutional perspectives, while a final chapter ties together the various strands that emerge in the book and defines trend-lines and future research questions for those conducting work on interdisciplinary communication.
The book addresses the issue of interdisciplinary understanding of collaboration on the topic of social network studies. Researchers and practitioners from various disciplines including sociology, computer science, socio-psychology, public health, complex systems, and management science have worked largely independently, each with quite different principles, terminologies, theories. and methodologies. The book aims to fill the gap among these disciplines with a number of the latest interdisciplinary collaboration studies.
The Second Edition provides a comprehensive introduction to interdisciplinary studies with an approach that is succinct, conceptual, and practical. Completely updated to reflect advances in the literature on research, learning, and assessment, the book describes the role of both disciplines and interdisciplinarity within the academy, and how these have evolved. Authors Allen F. Repko, Rick Szostak, and Michelle Phillips Buchberger effectively show students how to think like interdisciplinarians in order to facilitate their working with topics, complex problems, or themes that span multiple disciplines.
Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research examines current interdisciplinary research efforts and recommends ways to stimulate and support such research. Advances in science and engineering increasingly require the collaboration of scholars from various fields. This shift is driven by the need to address complex problems that cut across traditional disciplines, and the capacity of new technologies to both transform existing disciplines and generate new ones. At the same time, however, interdisciplinary research can be impeded by policies on hiring, promotion, tenure, proposal review, and resource allocation that favor traditional disciplines. This report identifies steps that researchers, teachers, students, institutions, funding organizations, and disciplinary societies can take to more effectively conduct, facilitate, and evaluate interdisciplinary research programs and projects. Throughout the report key concepts are illustrated with case studies and results of the committee's surveys of individual researchers and university provosts.
Introduction to Interdisciplinary Research offers comprehensive treatment of the interdisciplinary research process commonly used by interdisciplinarians. The concise and guided resource on the most commonly accepted interdisciplinary studies principles as applied to the research process covers topics such as: deciding how to choose disciplines relevant to the problem or topi; dealing with disciplinary and ideological bias; making explicit the rationale for taking an interdisciplinary approach, and choosing research methods appropriate to the problem or topic.
What are the causes of economic growth? As billions of people still live in poverty, this is perhaps the most important question in human science. It is also a very complex one, as rates of economic growth are influenced by a multitude of economic as well as political, geographical and sociological factors. This books attempts to advance a nuanced understanding of the process of economic growth by synthesizing the insights of several social science disciplines. Different theories and methods employed by economists and other social scientists to study the causes of economic growth are analyzed and it is shown how and why those insights should be integrated by applying best-practice techniques of interdisciplinary analysis. Scholars and practitioners are thus provided with a wide array of potential strategies for encouraging growth as well as guidance on how these strategies may interact.
