ABSTRACT

The landscape of contemporary research is characterized by growing interdisciplinarity, and disciplinary boundaries are blurring faster than ever. Yet while interdisciplinary methods, and methodological innovation in general, are often presented as the ‘holy grail’ of research, there are few examples or discussions of their development and ‘behaviour’ in the field.

This Routledge Handbook of Interdisciplinary Research presents a bold intervention by showcasing a diversity of stimulating approaches. Over 50 experienced researchers illustrate the challenges, but also the rewards of doing and representing interdisciplinary research through their own methodological developments. Featured projects cover a variety of scales and topics, from small art-science collaborations to the ‘big data’ of mass observations.

Each section is dedicated to an aspect of data handling, from collection, classification, validation to communication to research audiences. Most importantly, Interdisciplinary Methods presents a distinctive approach through its focus on knowledge as process, defamiliarising and reworking familiar practices such as experimenting, archiving, observing, prototyping or translating.

section 1|54 pages

Making and assembling

chapter 1|12 pages

Making and assembling

Towards a conjectural paradigm for interdisciplinary research

chapter 2|6 pages

Arranging (enchaînement)

chapter 3|6 pages

Drawing

chapter 4|4 pages

Experimenting

chapter 5|4 pages

Figuring

chapter 6|7 pages

Imaging

chapter 7|3 pages

Rescaling

chapter 8|5 pages

Sand drawing

chapter 9|5 pages

Suspending

section 2|60 pages

Capturing and composing

chapter 1|7 pages

Capturing and composing

Doing the epistemic and the ontic together

chapter 2|5 pages

Abducting

chapter 3|4 pages

Archiving

chapter 4|5 pages

iBorder/ing

chapter 5|4 pages

Casing

chapter 6|4 pages

Diffracting

chapter 7|4 pages

Figurationing

chapter 8|6 pages

Notating

chapter 9|4 pages

Prototyping

chapter 10|6 pages

Retrieving

chapter 11|1 pages

Timing

chapter 12|9 pages

Visualizing data

A view from design space

section 3|51 pages

Engaging and distributing

chapter 1|7 pages

Engaging and distributing

chapter 2|6 pages

Affective analysis

chapter 3|6 pages

Data-sprinting

A public approach to digital research

chapter 4|5 pages

Digging

chapter 5|7 pages

Issuecrawling

Building lists of URLs and mapping website networks

chapter 6|7 pages

Moving methods

chapter 7|4 pages

Playing with ethics

chapter 8|7 pages

Sensing atmospheres

section 1944|72 pages

Of interdisciplinarity

chapter 1|12 pages

Of interdisciplinarity

chapter 2|19 pages

Diagramming

chapter 4|9 pages

Haunting seedy connections

chapter 5|18 pages

Dirty methods as ethical methods?

In the field with ‘The Cultural Politics of Dirt in Africa, 1880–Present’

section 2665|89 pages

Valuing and validating

chapter 1|10 pages

Valuing and validating

On the ‘success’ of interdisciplinary research

chapter 2|5 pages

Compromising

chapter 3|3 pages

Deriving

chapter 4|4 pages

Disrupting

chapter 5|5 pages

Dissenting

chapter 6|5 pages

Exemplifying

chapter 7|5 pages

Explaining

chapter 8|5 pages

Generalizing

chapter 10|12 pages

Troubling

chapter 11|5 pages

Problem-making

chapter 12|5 pages

Project-ing

From differences to design

chapter 13|4 pages

Qualifying

chapter 14|4 pages

Scaling

chapter 15|5 pages

Speculating

chapter 16|3 pages

Wedging