Interdisciplinary Research: Maintaining the Constructive Impulse in a Culture of Criticism

We approach the benefits and burdens of interdisciplinary research (IDR) from the perspective that science involves both constructive and critical approaches. The constructive aspect generates concepts, theories, and data to understand the observable world, while criticism tests the internal consistency of understanding and its fit to the observable world (Pickett and others 1994). IDR is the linkage of phenomena, research approaches, and conceptual tools that had previously been pursued independently (Parker 1993). Such linkages produce new research questions, new approaches to problems, new theories, and new generalizations. Therefore, IDR emphasizes the constructive aspect of science.