Playing Well with Others: the Rise of Transdisciplinary Qualitative Research
Location
1052
Format Type
Paper
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
January 2016
End Date
January 2016
Abstract
As with health and healthcare related research generally, qualitative research in healthcare settings is also going to be increasingly transdisciplinary in nature. The term transdisciplinary has particular significance in this case because, rather than merely throwing a mélange of disciplinary practitioners at a problem, a transdisciplinary approach involves a concerted effort to blend the epistemological strengths of different disciplines in a more holistic approach to complex problems in a wide array of areas, e.g., healthcare. At the Center for Innovation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (CINDRR) at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida, transdisciplinary qualitative research teams are already addressing issues such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) and community reintegration through community agricultural initiatives. Qualitative projects have a strong ethnographic component and are being conducted by well integrated teams comprised of professionals in nursing research, health promotion, applied anthropology, TBI rehabilitation, and therapeutic horticulture, among others. While transdisciplinary research is at the cutting edge of qualitative research today, I expect that transdisciplinary teams will become the standard within the next few decades for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there is growing awareness that multiple disciplines have a valuable perspective on particular phenomena and that no discipline is without its deficits. The second reason is that communication technology continues to reduce the impact of geographic distance as a barrier to collaboration; this trend further enables transdisciplinary team building. Transdisciplinary approaches will markedly increase the comprehensiveness and granularity of qualitative research projects.
Playing Well with Others: the Rise of Transdisciplinary Qualitative Research
1052
As with health and healthcare related research generally, qualitative research in healthcare settings is also going to be increasingly transdisciplinary in nature. The term transdisciplinary has particular significance in this case because, rather than merely throwing a mélange of disciplinary practitioners at a problem, a transdisciplinary approach involves a concerted effort to blend the epistemological strengths of different disciplines in a more holistic approach to complex problems in a wide array of areas, e.g., healthcare. At the Center for Innovation for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (CINDRR) at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida, transdisciplinary qualitative research teams are already addressing issues such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) and community reintegration through community agricultural initiatives. Qualitative projects have a strong ethnographic component and are being conducted by well integrated teams comprised of professionals in nursing research, health promotion, applied anthropology, TBI rehabilitation, and therapeutic horticulture, among others. While transdisciplinary research is at the cutting edge of qualitative research today, I expect that transdisciplinary teams will become the standard within the next few decades for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there is growing awareness that multiple disciplines have a valuable perspective on particular phenomena and that no discipline is without its deficits. The second reason is that communication technology continues to reduce the impact of geographic distance as a barrier to collaboration; this trend further enables transdisciplinary team building. Transdisciplinary approaches will markedly increase the comprehensiveness and granularity of qualitative research projects.
Comments
Breakout Session B