Undergraduate Module Descriptor

SSIM903: Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Design

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Module Aims

The module will fulfil the ESRC requirement for training in core research design, collection and analysis skills by addressing the on the ground characteristics and challenges of ‘doing’ interdisciplinary research. On completion of the module you will be able to critically assess concepts such as interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. You will have acquired relevant practical skills and knowledge of how a range of methods can be integrated in an ethically sound manner to examine interdisciplinary problems, and will have developed an appreciation of the importance of pertinent interdisciplinary thinking.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Define and communicate the complexities of defining and describing interdisciplinary research. 2. Appreciate the inherent and necessary interdisciplinarity of studying contemporary social science issues 3. Demonstrate analytical and conceptual skills in your research design and written work.
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Demonstrate relevant critical skills for the evaluation of evidence. 5. Address interdisciplinary problems from a range of social science perspectives. 6. Elaborate the ethical aspects of interdisciplinary research.
Personal and Key Skills	7. Elaborate the ethical aspects of interdisciplinary research. 8. Manage your time to complete an independent research project. 9. Demonstrate lateral, critical and analytical reasoning.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The module consists of three, day long and intensive workshops held at Bristol, Bath and then Exeter. The workshops are organised in a way that is interactive, and there are moments for you to reflect on your own research experience and ambitions. Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it will be taught using practical examples and it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Why disciplines and interdisciplinarity?
Methods for interdisciplinary research
Ethics in interdisciplinary research
Impact and the use of evidence in policy
The theory and practice of transdisciplinary research

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
21	129	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	21	This module will be delivered in three face-to-face one day (seven hour) sessions (Bristol x1, Bath x1, Exeter x1). Each institution will take responsibility for delivery one focused workshop at their own institutions.
Guided Independent Study	64	Reading a preparation for face-to face sessions
Guided Independent Study	65	Writing and researching for coursework

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Group Presentation	20 minutes	1-9	Verbal

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Reflective Commentary	100	3,000 words	1-9	Written

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Reflective Commentary	Reflective Commentary (3,000 words)	1-9	August/September reassessment period

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

A course reader will be made available via Blackboard (or equivalent VLE) as the literature in this area is expansive. Indicative resources include:

Barry, A., Born, G. and Weszkalnys, G. (2008) Logics of interdisciplinarity. Economy and Society, 37(1): 20-49.

Brister, E. (2016). Disciplinary capture and epistemological obstacles to interdisciplinary research: Lessons from central African conservation disputes. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 56:82-91

Collins, H. and R. Evans (2002) The Third Wave of Science Studies: Studies of Expertise and Experience. Sage, London.

Delanty, G. (2001) Challenging knowledge. The university in the knowledge society. Society for Research into Higher Education and Oxford University Press, Buckingham.

Etzkowitz, H. and L. Leydesdorff (2000) The dynamics of innovation: from national systems and “Mode 2” to a triple helix of university-industry-government relations. Research Policy 29, 109–23.

Mäki, U. (2013). Scientific imperialism: Difficulties in definition, identification, and assessment. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 27, 325-339.

Nowotny, P. Scott and M. Gibbons (2001) Re-Thinking Science: Knowledge and the Public in an Age of Uncertainty. Polity Press, Cambridge.

O’Rourke, M., Crowley, S., & Gonnerman, C. (2016). On the nature of crossdisciplinary integration: A philosophical framework. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 56, 62-70.

Repko, A. (2008) Interdisciplinary Research: Process and theory. Sage, London.

Report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences (1996) Open the Social Sciences. Stanford University Press, Stanford.

Taylor, P. J. (1996) Embedded statism and the social sciences: opening up to new spaces. Environment and Planning A 28, 1917–28.

Verouden, N. van der Sanden, M. and N.Aarts (2016). ‘Silence in Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration: Not Everything Said is Relevant, Not Everything Relevant is Said’. Science as Culture, 25 (2): 264-288

Weingert, P. and N. Stehr (2000) Practising Interdisciplinarity. University of Toronto Press, Toronto