Interdisciplinary Research

Interdisciplinary research integrates perspectives and methods from two or more disciplines to investigate a topic or an issue. It has been distinguished from multidisciplinary research in which individuals and teams trained in different academic traditions focus on a common problem but are not charged with integrating concepts and methods to address that problem. It has also been distinguished from, or regarded as a sub-type of, transdisciplinary research where diverse researchers attempt to transcend disciplinary boundaries to create novel ways of thinking about the topic of interest and to advance methods of investigation. Although interdisciplinary research has a long history, it has gained prominence recently due to the “big science” revolution that encourages and funds large, interdisciplinary, and multimethod research and to technological advances that enhance conceptual and methodological integration. Increasingly, researchers, funders, and policymakers have come to recognize that multiple perspectives and methods are needed to better understand and solve complicated issues. The added value of interdisciplinary approaches has been demonstrated in research on a range of complex questions such as the effects of poverty on child and family well-being; the ethical, legal, and social implications of genetic research; health and health behaviors; and the multiple interlinked influences on child development (e.g., biological, environmental, familial, community, cultural). These are complicated phenomena that require a matching complexity and integration of methods at multiple levels for their study.

Although much has been written about the value of interdisciplinary research and its correlate mixed methods, there is little available about the actual practice and use of qualitative methods in interdisciplinary projects—the ways in which large and diverse research teams have integrated qualitative approaches, the transformations that qualitative methods can bring about, and the real challenges that exist for qualitative methodologists working on interdisciplinary teams or for researchers on the team who are not trained in the methods. Research findings are reported with varying degrees of success at integrating qualitative perspectives and methods, but the activities that lay behind successful or unsuccessful integration are not transparent. This entry provides a brief synopsis of the potential of qualitative methods in collaborative interdisciplinary research and the factors that enhance or impede integration.