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
ByRachel Fensham, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

chapter 2|6 pages

Arranging (enchaînement)

ByHarmony Bench

chapter 3|6 pages

Drawing

ByMatthew Reason

chapter 4|4 pages

Experimenting

ByThomas Jellis

chapter 5|4 pages

Figuring

ByMargaret Wertheim

chapter 6|7 pages

Imaging

ByRebecca Coleman

chapter 7|3 pages

Rescaling

ByRamon Lobato

chapter 8|5 pages

Sand drawing

ByJennifer Green

chapter 9|5 pages

Suspending

ByCatherine Ayres, David Bissell

section 2|60 pages

Capturing and composing

chapter 1|7 pages

Capturing and composing

Doing the epistemic and the ontic together
ByEmma Uprichard

chapter 2|5 pages

Abducting

ByAna Teixeira de Melo

chapter 3|4 pages

Archiving

ByLuciana Duranti

chapter 4|5 pages

iBorder/ing

ByHolger Pötzsch

chapter 5|4 pages

Casing

ByCharles C. Ragin

chapter 6|4 pages

Diffracting

ByLeila Dawney

chapter 7|4 pages

Figurationing

ByLeila Dawney

chapter 8|6 pages

Notating

ByMoritz Wedell

chapter 9|4 pages

Prototyping

ByAlberto Corsín Jiménez

chapter 10|6 pages

Retrieving

ByCarolin Gerlitz

chapter 11|1 pages

Timing

ByBarbara Adam

chapter 12|9 pages

Visualizing data

A view from design space
ByGreg McInerny

section 3|51 pages

Engaging and distributing

chapter 1|7 pages

Engaging and distributing

BySybille Lammes

chapter 2|6 pages

Affective analysis

ByLaura U. Marks

chapter 3|6 pages

Data-sprinting

A public approach to digital research
ByTommaso Venturini, Anders Munk, Axel Meunier

chapter 4|5 pages

Digging

ByJussi Parikka

chapter 5|7 pages

Issuecrawling

Building lists of URLs and mapping website networks
ByRichard Rogers

chapter 6|7 pages

Moving methods

ByMonika Büscher

chapter 7|4 pages

Playing with ethics

ByMiguel Angel Sicart

chapter 8|7 pages

Sensing atmospheres

BySasha Engelmann, Derek McCormack

section 1944|72 pages

Of interdisciplinarity

chapter 1|12 pages

Of interdisciplinarity

ByAngela Last

chapter 2|19 pages

Diagramming

ByGail Davies, Helen Scalway

chapter 3|11 pages

Conversation between Angela Last and Nina Lykke

ByNina Lykke, Angela Last

chapter 4|9 pages

Haunting seedy connections

ByTahani Nadim

chapter 5|18 pages

Dirty methods as ethical methods?

In the field with ‘The Cultural Politics of Dirt in Africa, 1880–Present’
ByStephanie Newell, Patrick Oloko, John Uwa, Olutoyosi Tokun, Jane Nebe, Job Mwaura, Rebeccah Onwong’a, Ann Kirori, Claire Craig

section 2665|89 pages

Valuing and validating

chapter 1|10 pages

Valuing and validating

On the ‘success’ of interdisciplinary research
ByMike Michael

chapter 2|5 pages

Compromising

ByMike Michael

chapter 3|3 pages

Deriving

ByCarl DiSalvo

chapter 4|4 pages

Disrupting

ByYoko Akama, Sarah Pink

chapter 5|5 pages

Dissenting

ByManuel Tironi

chapter 6|5 pages

Exemplifying

ByTuur Driesser

chapter 7|5 pages

Explaining

ByPriska Gisler

chapter 8|5 pages

Generalizing

ByJoanna Latimer, Rolland Munro

chapter 9|6 pages

Interdisciplines, and Indigenous research and methodologies

ByCatriona Elder, Jonathon Potskin

chapter 10|12 pages

Troubling

ByAnne Galloway

chapter 11|5 pages

Problem-making

ByAlan Irwin, Maja Horst

chapter 12|5 pages

Project-ing

From differences to design
ByConnor Graham

chapter 13|4 pages

Qualifying

ByGay Hawkins

chapter 14|4 pages

Scaling

ByMasato Fukushima

chapter 15|5 pages

Speculating

ByAlex Wilkie

chapter 16|3 pages

Wedging

ByJane Calvert