How to Do Transdisciplinary Research?
Aim of this session
The aim of this session is to provide the participants with a kind of roadmap of how a transdisciplinary research project should be conceptualized, which steps have to be taken and what kind of challenges might occur. The presentation is primarily targeting researchers and aims to guide them through the different phases of a transdisciplinary research project, namely framing, research process implementation and outcome. Each phase is explained and different possibilities are described regarding the problem definition, the involvement of non-academic actors, the methods chosen and/or the outcome. This is important since different strategic decisions will have to be made depending on the researchers, their disciplinary backgrounds, their methodological expertise or the problem that is targeted. It is crucial that the participants are aware of the variety of possibilities (which are summarized from a broad variety of transdisciplinary case studies for this presentation) since there is no ‘one size fits all’ conceptualization of a transdisciplinary project.
This also applies to the challenges which are presented. The challenges discussed refer to the different phases and are a compilation of evaluation results from different transdisciplinary projects. The aim is to point to possible challenges which will a) provide important strategies with regard to conceptualizations of transdisciplinary research projects, while at the same time b) provide the participants with possible strategies to avoid them. The strategies are targeting on one hand the research process, implementation and interaction with non-academic actors, and on the other hand the competencies that the researchers should have. Additionally, the presentation also aims to show that conceptualizing and implementing a transdisciplinary research project is a learning process accompanied by trial and error.
Links to transdisciplinary research and teaching
The presentation focusses on how to do transdisciplinary research and is thus primarily meant for researchers who to plan or are considering using transdisciplinarity as an operational modus of research. The intention is to provide practical guidance to using transdisciplinarity in research, after the have become acquainted with the knowledge- production framework presented in the first two sessions. However, the presentation can only provide an overview. Several dimensions and strategies which are briefly discussed here can be found more intensively discussed in the reading material provided on the last slide. This also applies for methodological questions such as reflectivity, participation, and communication and methods. The qualifications that researchers should possess will be taken up in sessions in section 2 of the teaching manual.
Summary of main points
To give a guideline how a transdisciplinary research project should be framed and implemented and what can and should be possible outcomes.
To also show the challenges which accompany such a research project.
To give some ideas how to cope with the challenges and which competencies are needed.
To convey that the implementation of a transdisciplinary research project is a process which, develops its own dynamics.
Use of reading material
There are two articles which should be read in advance and which will increase the understanding of the presentation. On one hand the article by Pohl, Christian 2010: From Transdisciplinary to transdisciplinary research, in: Journal of Engineering & Science, Vol. 1, pp. 65-73and the article by Mejia, Maurico et al. 2017: Towards an Inventory of best Practices for transdisciplinary Collaboration, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 23nd International Symposium of Electonic Arts ISEA 2017. The former is a general introduction whereas the latter focusses primarily on challenges and how to deal with them. Even though the presentation is based off a wider range of literature, these two will provide a thorough entry point.
Additional comments to the presentation
The author of the first article, Christian Pohl, has given a presentation titled Heuristics of Transdisciplinary Research which explains how to do transdisciplinary research.
This presentation can be found under: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx1SNFWkhmI (Heuristics of Transdisciplinary Researchby Christian Pohl)
The presentation is long (26 minutes) and thus should be used to help trainers to prepare rather than being used during the training. To use in the training however might need too much time and topics get repeated. When using the Pohl’s presentation as part of the session, some slides should be ignored in the following. Definitely the participants can be advised to watch the presentation after the session!
Concluding remarks
On the last slides, additional literature is mentioned. The literature tackles different topics, including case studies and methods. The additional literature is organized around topics that are only briefly dealt with in the presentation. Thus the different themes mentioned in the presentation can be expanded depending on the preferences and needs of the audiences.
Reflections
This session does not focus on what transdisciplinarity is, but how to apply it to research. Therefore this session is only understandable if the participants got the first two sessions (at least session one). Since most of the participants probably do have experiences in research, enough time should be given for O&A at the end of the presentation.
Additionally, by bringing up the following questions could aid in deepening the discussion:
Where do you see differences to your own research experiences?
Do you see yourself as part of a transdisciplinary research team? Why yes and why no?
These questions could be discussed by the group as a whole, or in small groups at the end. The ensuring discussion will allow the participants to bring in their own experiences, to reflect and discover the similarities and differences.
There is one additionally exercise as part of the presentation:
The exercise (slide 21) involves group work. Four groups should be formed and each should discuss the challenges which they perceive with regard to one of the phases that have been presented: General level, Phase 1: Framing; Phase 2: Research Process Implementation; Phase 3: Outcome. Groups should get at least 10 minutes for discussion, and another 10 minutes to give their presentations. Afterwards, the challenges which are discussed in the literature and which are summarized on the following slide will be covered.
Furthermore, an example of a case study could be included or used to discuss the phases presented. There are articles with examples of case studies included in the last slides of the presentation. It could also be helpful to ask the participants to search beforehand for an article of a case study which is related to their topic of study. The example could be then used to illustrate the different phases, how the research processes does not always follow the discussed phases exactly, and how it is always an open process with room for maneuver and negotiations. Such an exercise would make the whole presentation more concrete and comprehensible.