Interdisciplinary Research: Diverse Approaches in Science, Technology, Health and Society

260 Pages·2006·1.282 MB·English

by  John Atkinson, Malcolm Crowe (eds.)

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
Diverse Approaches
in Science,
Technology, Health
and Society
Edited by
PROFESSOR JOHN ATKINSON
University of Paisley
PROFESSOR MALCOLM CROWE
University of Paisley
Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Interdisciplinary research : diverse approaches in science,technology,
health,and society / edited by John Atkinson and Malcolm Crowe.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-86156-470-2 (paper : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-86156-470-8 (paper : alk. paper)
1. Social medicine–Miscellanea. 2. Technology–Miscellanea.
3. Health–Miscellanea. 4. Science–Miscellanea. I. Atkinson,John,
PhD. II. Crowe,M.K.(Malcolm K.)
[DNLM: 1. Ethics,Research. 2. Research–methods. 3. Interdisci-
plinary Communication. W 20.5 I5145 2006]
RA418.I58 2006
362.1–dc22
2006011235
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13 978-1-86156-470-2
ISBN-10 1-86156-470-8
Typeset by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd.,Hong Kong
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd,Padstow,Cornwall
This book is printed on acid-free paper responsibly manufactured from sustainable forestry in
which at least two trees are planted for each one used for paper production.
Contents
Contributors vii
Preface xi
1 Research Today 1
Malcolm Crowe
2 Studying Complexity:Are We Approaching the Limits of Science? 25
Ian Boyd
3 A Sustainable Environment? The ‘Lopsided View’ of an Environmental
Geochemist 41
Andrew S.Hursthouse
4 Use and Abuse of Statisticians 55
Mario Hair
5 Research in Information Systems – Mine and My Colleagues’ 75
Abel Usoro
6 Hearing Lips and Seeing Voices:Illusion and Serendipity in
Auditory-Visual Perception Research 101
John MacDonald
7 Research in Modern History 117
Martin Myant
8 ‘Scientificity’ and its Alternatives:Aspects of Philosophy and
Methodology within Media and Cultural Studies Research 135
Neil Blain
9 The Truth as Personal Documentation:An Anthropological Narrative
of Hospital Portering 155
Nigel Rapport
10 Philosophy,Nursing and the Nature of Evidence 175
P.Anne Scott
vi CONTENTS
11 Researching the Spiritual:Outcome or Process? 191
Harriet Mowat and John Swinton
12 Using Narrative in Care and Research:The Patient’s Journey 213
John Atkinson
Index 239
Contributors
Professor John Atkinson is Professor and Associate Dean in the School of
Health Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Paisley.He comes from a
community nursing background with clinical, management and academic
experience particularly with marginalised people.Before entering universities
he was health care manager at HM Prison Barlinnie.Among his publications
are:Nursing Homeless Men(2000),chapters on HIV/AIDS and homelessness,
and research-based articles.
Professor Malcolm Crowe gained his DPhil in Mathematics from Oxford in
1979,becoming Head of Computing in Paisley in 1985,where he introduced
an ‘interpretivist’ degree in Information Systems.From the resulting culture
clash, university-level research development, and hundreds of Masters stu-
dents,he has gained a multidisciplinary view of research.
Professor Neil Blainis Professor of Media and Culture in the School of Media,
Language and Music at the University of Paisley. Recent books include the
co-authored Media, Monarchy and Power, and Sport, Media, Culture: Local
and Global Dimensions(both 2003).He co-edits The International Journal of
Media and Cultural Politics.
Professor Ian Boyd is Professor of Biology and Director of the NERC Sea
Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews.He is a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh and a recipient of the Bruce Medal for polar
science, the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London and the
Marshall Award for Freshwater and Marine Conservation.He is an editor of
the Journal of Zoology and an honorary professor at the University of
Birmingham. Until 2001, he was a programme principal investigator for the
British Antarctic Survey.
Mr Mario Hair has been a statistics lecturer at the University of Paisley for
the last eighteen years.He is also active within the Statistics Consultancy Unit
based at the university.His research interests include survey methodology.As
a consultant he has completed projects for a wide range of clients.
Professor Andrew S.Hursthouse is a Professor in the School of Engineering
and Science, University of Paisley. He is an environmental geochemist and
Chartered Chemist,with research interests developing from an ‘Earth systems’
viii CONTRIBUTORS
approach to applied and industrial issues,supporting sustainable development.
He collaborates with researchers nationally and internationally on waste and
pollution management issues and has a strong interest in environmental reg-
ulation and policy development.
Professor John MacDonald is Professor of Psychology in the School of Social
Sciences at the University of Paisley.He is a Chartered Psychologist and an
Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. His most well-known
research is in the area of auditory-visual speech processing,where he was one
of the discoverers of the ‘McGurk’ effect.
Dr Harriet Mowat is the Managing Director of Mowat Research Ltd, a
research and development company which focuses on the ageing population
and the practical implications for social change.She is a senior research asso-
ciate of the University of Paisley School of Nursing and Midwifery. Her
research interests include spirituality and ageing, successful ageing in the
workplace and collaboration.
Professor Martin Myantis a Professor in Paisley Business School at the Uni-
versity of Paisley.He has written on economic and political development in
east-central Europe.His latest book,The Rise and Fall of Czech Capitalism:
Economic Development in the Czech Republic since 1989, was published by
Edward Elgar in 2003.
Professor Nigel Rapport is a social anthropologist. He holds the Canada
Research Chair in Globalization, Citizenship and Justice at Concordia
University of Montreal, where he is Founding Director of the Centre for
Cosmopolitan Studies. He is also Professor at the Norwegian University of
Science and Technology,Trondheim.He has been elected a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh.His research interests include social theory,phenome-
nology,identity and individuality,community,conversation analysis,and links
between anthropology and literature and philosophy.
Professor P. Anne Scott was appointed Deputy President of Dublin City
University in February 2006.She has worked clinically and as an academic in
Ireland,Scotland and Kenya.Anne’s research interests are in the philosophy
and ethics of health care and in judgement and decision-making on issues of
ethics and clinical practice.
Professor John Swinton holds the chair in Practical Theology and Pastoral
Care at the University of Aberdeen.He worked for 16 years as a registered
nurse specialising in psychiatry and learning disabilities.He also worked for a
number of years as a community mental health chaplain.In 2004 he founded
the Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability at the University of
CONTRIBUTORS ix
Aberdeen, a research centre with a dual focus on the relationship between
spirituality and health and the theology of disability.
Dr Abel Usoro lectures in the School of Computing, University of Paisley,
Scotland.His research interests are information systems and knowledge man-
agement for which he has been widely published in refereed international con-
ferences,journals and book chapters.He is a member of both the Information
Institute and the British Computing Society.
Preface
This book is for research activists, especially those involved in education
institutions and research degrees. Its journey started at the University of
Paisley with the establishment of a Post Graduate Certificate in Research
Degree Supervision. A number of colleagues from a variety of disciplines
came together to promote research activity and help colleagues undertake
supervision.
At first it appeared simple enough,as each discipline from the ‘hard’ or ‘soft’
area of research endeavour presented its perspective.The discussion,however,
was less clear and much more exciting. Assumptions and long-held beliefs
brought to the gatherings were certainly challenged,influenced and sometimes
profoundly changed. The working title for this book was ‘a celebration of
research approaches’ to reflect this vibrant interaction.From these activities
the editors approached the authors in this book to portray their perspectives
and enrich the debate.
One overriding theme, presented in this book, is how all parties tend to
recognise multiple approaches to answering questions.This has been a sur-
prise to some of our more qualitatively based colleagues,who tended to con-
sider empirical scientists as only ‘believing’ their own research. Conversely,
quantitatively weighted individuals have become familiar with the need for
qualitative approaches, in particular, of how ‘bilingual’ approaches often
enrich research studies, providing depth and practical insight into how the
‘science’ can be transferred to humanity. This is particularly important in
research related to the provision of public service and the spending of public
money.
Another theme was the need, in all approaches, for rigour and clarity, to
establish the questions and choose the methodology that would address them,
not necessarily just those to which one is accustomed.Alongside this was the
search and development of the ‘likely story’ and how important this is to all
research disciplines.This book does not pretend to be comprehensive in terms
of including all kinds of research.It does,it is hoped,convey approaches from
perspectives right across the continuum of research.
Similarly,the book does not purport to tell the reader how to carry out col-
laborative, multidisciplinary research. Rather its purpose is to provide
windows into a variety of approaches.It is hoped that,armed with this infor-
mation and insight, readers will consider their research questions and chal-
lenges from a broader base.This may be seen as good academic practice,but
the authors also hope that practical benefits may accrue as well – funding
xii PREFACE
bodies have put an increased emphasis on multidisciplinary, collaborative
research.
Finally, we sincerely hope that the reader will enjoy the book and gain a
feeling of the fun that debate and pursuing research engenders in us all.
John Atkinson and Malcolm Crowe
University of Paisley,January 2006