Multidisciplinary Research as a Complex System

Abstract

Collaborative research has become increasingly prominent since the mid-20th century. This article aspires to offer a fundamental ontology of a multidisciplinary research system. As a point of departure, we consider disciplinarity as a restricted language code as noted by Bernstein. The impetus for collaboration is found in a research problem’s transcendence of disciplinary bounds. This article makes several propositions that diverge from the consensus position regarding the formation and dynamics of a multidisciplinary system. Most notably that such a system adheres to the constituent elements of what could be regarded as a complex system, including an ensemble of elements, interactions between these elements, local disorder followed by the emergence of robust order and system memory. We propose that the internal communications and subsequent self-organization of such a system may be conceptualized as orientation signals, or ‘stigmergy’, analogous to those observed in swarms. System robustness, we argue, is a function of the individual researcher’s local autonomy and is, paradoxically, augmented by the weakness of communications across disciplinary bounds, along with the lack of central organization and the emphasis on research novelty. System memory, we argue, manifests itself in the ability of a researcher to change her/his route of inquiry, based on environmental feedback, whereby new information becomes incorporated into the adjusted research methodology. We propose that an emergent intelligence, at the level of the system, expresses itself in the unconcealment of the ‘form’ of the metaproblem. The theoretical model is empirically illustrated using, as an example, the contemporary field of renewable energy research, which is an area primed for collaborative research. It is anticipated that an improved understanding of multidisciplinary research systems provides insights into certain strengths particular to less integrated and self-organized forms of collaborative research along with a framework with which to improve the design and fostering of such systems.

“All I Can Say Is Thank You”

“…We developed the second research question iteratively as thematic categories emerged during the data analysis process (detailed later). This methodological iterative approach to study design and analysis allowed us to incorporate what we were learning as the research went on, rather than following a set of rigid linear steps that can dampen the richness of the data set 18. By iterating this second research question as the study progressed, we were able to more accurately reflect what the data revealed, rather than what we, as researchers, may have been looking for.…”

Interdisciplinary Research as a Complicated System

“…We suggest that the central organizing principle, by virtue of a stricter definition of the metaproblem, seeks to impose the dynamics of a complicated system, notably in terms of increased centralized control, onto what is in fact intrinsically a complex system. With the establishment of a form of centralized control, a system becomes more mechanistic and formalized – as is characteristic of a complicated system - especially compared to the dynamism of a multidisciplinary system as discussed in Dalton et al (2021).…”

“…A central assertion of this paper is that interdisciplinary systems primarily function as complicated systems, unlike multidisciplinary research systems which, as discussed in Dalton et al (2021), may be considered as complex systems. Indeed, as noted by Poli (2013), distinctions between complex and complicated systems are gradually becoming more uncertain (somewhat ironically) because of the increasing literature on complex systems.…”

“…The level of centralized control is an important distinction between inter- and multidisciplinary research systems, whereby in a multidisciplinary research system, neither the metaproblem, nor the modes of inquiry, is transcribed at a systems level owing to the lack of central organization and weak communication between researchers (Dalton et al, 2021). The CrOP is therefore a catalytic mechanism that coalesces the intentionality of system agents through a unification of their disparate aims and methodologies, thereby directing multiple monodisciplinary agents towards a point of convergence.…”

“…In Dalton et al (2021) the authors sought to redefine multidisciplinary research systems as robust complex systems involved in the process of unconcealment of the metaproblem. Multidisciplinary research systems were framed as complex systems using a framework of features common to complex systems as identified by Ladyman & Lambert (2013).…”