Are Three Heads Better Than One? Reflections on Doing Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research

Abstract

This paper, coauthored by an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a sociologist, presents reflections on conducting a collaborative and interdisciplinary in-house study of students who left other occupations for teaching. Data for this account include two jointly constructed interview protocols, memos to students and other faculty members, and field notes taken by all three investigators as participant observers in a variety of contexts at the field site. We describe and analyze four dimensions of our qualitative mode of inquiry: initiation of the internal interdisciplinary collaboration, external collaboration with faculty advisors, external collaboration with students, and internal collaboration in the construction of the research narrative. The paper concludes with observations and recommendations on what facilitates and constrains the successful conduct of collaborative interdisciplinary research.

Scientific collaboration in finance does not lead to better quality research

“…15-17 Another strength of collaborative research is the inclusion of multiple perspectives in the process. 18,19 There are also some disadvantages of collaborative research that intending coauthors should heed. Actual collaboration and co-ordination of the authors' inputs may not be a smooth process.…”

Citation levels and collaboration within library and information science

“…Many governments are promoting increased international collaboration in the belief that this will result in reduced costs and higher impact research (Katz & Hicks, 1997). One factor that may have contributed to the perceived advantage of collaborative research is that collaboration can save time (Fox & Faver, 1984-in an account of the advantages of collaboration in general) and result in the inclusion of multiple perspectives (Crow, Levine, & Nager, 1992-an investigation of local collaboration). Another factor is the evidence (described below) that collaboration correlates with high citation.…”

La recherche collaborative : essai de définition

“…Pour espérer atteindre un niveau de fonctionnalité et de succès acceptables, une recherche de partenariat reposera sur deux niveaux de collaboration: interne et externe (Crow, Levine et Nager, 1992). En termes de collaboration externe (interorganisationnelles), on veillera à nouer des liens harmonieux et efficaces entre les principaux partenaires, soit les milieux cliniques ou professionnels, d'une part, et l'université ou le centre de recherche, d'autre part.…”