GD5996 Interdisciplinary Research Methods

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 11

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Open to Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Studies students only.

Planned timetable

To be confirmed

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr G W B Pedriali

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Walter Pedriali

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

The notion of interdisciplinarity is crucial not just to the solution of global problems. It is also crucial to the development of genuinely sustainable and fully diverse research and teaching methodologies. The notion, however, gives rise to paradoxes. Interdisciplinarity requires the seamless blending of research methodologies from different disciplines. It seems unclear, however, that discipline-specific methodologies could be blended without losing their specificity. And if they could be blended into a distinctive set of methodologies, interdisciplinarity would then become a discipline in its own right, creating new disciplinary boundaries, instead of abolishing them. In this module we explore the paradoxes of interdisciplinarity, and the challenges they pose, by reviewing theoretical debates on the notion of interdisciplinarity and by looking at the application of interdisciplinary methods to case studies. The teaching is closely integrated with the School’s research activities.

Assessment pattern

100% Coursework

Re-assessment

100% Coursework

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

2 hr seminar

Scheduled learning hours

30

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

259

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • discuss and differentiate competing definitions and understandings of interdisciplinarity and interdisciplinary methods
  • apply qualitative and quantitative methods to specific research questions
  • analyse and appraise competing methodologies with respect to their suitability for dealing with a given research question
  • evaluate the impact of interdisciplinary methods on research and work outcomes in academia and beyond