Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Interdisciplinary research: A philosophy, art form, artifact or antidote?

  • Papers
  • Published:
Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Scientific research is not itself a science; it is still an art or craft. W. H. George (1938)

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research has many faces—a philosophy, an art form, an artifact, and an antidote. It is all of these things because interdisciplinary research attempts to ask questions in ways that cut across disciplinary boundaries. This is not politically correct and universities especially find it difficult to manage interdisciplinarians and their projects. The author argues that interdisciplinary research has persisted as an alternative when traditional research approaches have failed to come up with answers to common problems. Interdisciplinary research will continue to survive as long as there are creative, risk-taking scientists who are dissatisfied with the political and organizational boundaries we establish around disciplines which limit our ability to learn about their commonalities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Asimov, I. (1983).The roving mind. New York: Prometheus Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, P. H. (1981). Academic interdisciplinary research: characteristics of successful projects.Journal of the Society of Research Administrators, 13 (1):5–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, P. H. (1978). Academic contexts of interdisciplinary research.Educational Administration Quarterly, 14 (2):80–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, P. H. (1982). The organization and management of interdisciplinary research, a progress report.Journal of the Society of Research Administrators, 13 (4):11–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blade, E. (1963). Creative Science. In: M. A. Coler (ed.),Essays on creativity in the sciences. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruhn, J. G. (1995). Beyond discipline: creating a culture for interdisciplinary research.Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 30 (4):331–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, D. (1998). Interdisciplinary research “being stifled”.Nature, 396 (Nov 19):202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. T. (1969). Ethnocentrism of disciplines and the fish-scale model of omniscience. In M. Sherif and C. W. Sherif (eds.),Interdisciplinary relationships in the social sciences (pp. 328–348). Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cravens, D. W., Heathington, K. W., and Mundy, R. A. (1976). Organizing for interdisciplinary research in a university setting.Journal of the Society of Research Administrators, 8 (1):3–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crow, G. M. (1992). Are three heads better than one? Reflections on doing collaborative interdisciplinary research.American Educational Research Journal, 29 (4):580–600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dogan, M. and Pahre, R. (1990).Creative marginality: innovation at the intersections of social sciences. Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleick, J. (1987).Chaos: making a new science. New York: Viking.

    Google Scholar 

  • George, W. H. (1938).The Scientist in action, a scientific study of his methods. New York: Emerson Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, E. (1991).Boundaries in the mind. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heathington, K. W., Cunningham, J., and Mundy, R. A. (1978). Management of interdisciplinary research in universities: the state of the art.Educational Researcher, 7 (1):11–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heberlein, T. A. (1988). Improving interdisciplinary research: integrating the social and natural sciences.Society and Natural Resources, 1, 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Journet, D. (1993). Interdisciplinary discourse and “boundary rhetoric”.Written Communication, 10 (4):510–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karki, R. (1996). Searching for bridges between disciplines: an author co-citation analysis on the research into scholarly communication.Journal of Information Science, 22 (5):323–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kash, D. E. (1988). Crossing the boundaries of disciplines.Engineering Education, 78 (10):93–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kowalewski, D. and Laird, R. D. (1990). Interdisciplinarity gaps: a survey report.Educational Research Quarterly, 14 (2):32–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, J. T. (1990). The interdisciplinary process. In: P. H. Birnbaum-More, F. A. Rossini and D. R. Baldwin (eds.),International research management (pp. 20–30). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, J. T. (1996).Crossing boundaries, knowledge, disciplinarities, and interdisciplinarities. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laughlin, P. and Sigerstad, M. H. (1990). The research administrator's role in creating a supportive environment for interdisciplinary research,Research Management Review: The Journal of the National Council of University Research Administrators, 4 (1):1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metzger, N. and Zare, R. N. (1999). Interdisciplinary research: from belief to reality.Science 283 (Jan 29):642–643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pignataro, L. J. and Mc Shane, W. R. (1979). Interdisciplinary research: transcending departmental conflicts.Engineering Education, 69 (4):349–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qin, J., Lancaster, F. W. and Allen, B. (1997). Types and levels of collaboration in interdisciplinary research in the sciences.Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48 (10):893–916.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricketts, T. C. and Kaluzny, A. D. (1987). Health promotion and industry: where interdisciplinary research meets reality.Evaluation and the Health Professions, 10 (3):304–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, I. T. (1981). Some factors associated with successful interdisciplinary research.Journal of the Society of Research Administrators, 13 (1):5–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossini, F. A. and Porter, A. L. (1981). Interdisciplinary research: performance and policy issues.Journal of the Society of Research Administrators, 13 (2):8–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, M. G. and Sauer, R. J. (1983). Creating administrative environments for interdisciplinary research.Journal of the Society of Research Administrators, 14 (4):21–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salter, L. and Hearn, A. (1996).Outside the lines: Issues in interdisciplinary research. Montreal: Mc Gill-Queens University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saxberg, B. O. Newell, W. T., and Mar, B. W. (1981). Interdisciplinary research—a dilemma for university central administration.Journal of the Society of Research Administrators, 13 (2):25–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schank, R. with Childers, P. (1988).The creative attitude: Learning to ask and answer the right questions. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrage, M. (1989).No more teams: Mastering the dynamics of creative collaboration. New York: Currency Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J. and Lubart, T. I. (1995).Defying the crowd. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watt, R. (1991). The blocks on interdisciplinary research.New Scientist, 130 (1763):8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilber, K. (1979).No boundary. Boston: New Science Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, K. J. (1987). Interdisciplinary research: How big a challenge to traditional fields?The Chronicle of Higher Education, 34 (6) (Oct 7):A1, A14, A15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, S. (1998). The challenge and satisfaction of integrative thinking.Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 33 (2):120–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zerubavel, E. (1991).The fine line: Making distinctions in everyday life. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziman, J. (1981).Puzzles, problems and enigmas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New Mexico State University, New Mexico, USA

    John G. Bruhn Ph.D.

Authors
  1. John G. Bruhn Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John G. Bruhn Ph.D..

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bruhn, J.G. Interdisciplinary research: A philosophy, art form, artifact or antidote?. Integr. psych. behav. 35, 58–66 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02911166

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02911166

Keywords

Search

Navigation