Interdisciplinary research

If you’ve read the “Discourse” module, you’ve learned about the main building blocks which shape all of the various academic disciplines – the invisible college, primary and secondary resources, discourse communities, and publication cycle. 

Of course, there are vast difference in the orientation and approach to knowledge among these three schools of knowledge. Increasingly, scholars of all disciplines conduct “interdisciplinary research” which draws from not just one academic discipline, but two or more disciplines.

This is especially true in the Social Sciences. This approach to research recognizes that most research topics spill over into other disciplines. For example, the topic of “learning disabilities” pertains not only to education, but also psychology and even sociology. When you determine which academic discipline(s) your research draws on, you are also determining many of the qualities your project or paper will contain.

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