In the first question, I am not talking about interdisciplinary research but specific concepts from very different field that you find useful in constructing your research even if it is not directly part of your research. For example, I personally find some very basic economic concepts such as opportunity costs useful in designing experiments. At a slightly more advanced level, some concepts from psychology, such as the inherent tendency to emphasize dramatic results (Nobel prizes, landmark studies, high risk-high reward) over the cumulative impact of more pedestrian projects, I think are also useful in evaluating and designing research projects.The list could could go on. I am curious about other peoples experiences here.
2. In the second I am curious what people believe the typical undergrad student who is not majoring in the subject should take away from a class devoted to non-majors ("Physics for poets" type classes for example). Should the goal be a basic understanding of the subject? An understanding of the field within a different context (for example, in a chemistry course for non-majors the introduction of key concepts from medicinal chemistry tied to discussion of the drug industry from a economic and sociological perspective)? Something else?
http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines/2006/04/18/physics-for-poets/
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/04/13/morley
1. Economics. Statistics. Models. Algorithms. Research methods.
2. Vocabulary. Culture. Reading skills. Writing Skills. Analytic skills. Scientific method.
Well, in my research on ethical mindsets - I used spirituality - which is taken from religion - and aesthetics which is taken from art.
Regards
Theodora Issa
Ayurveda, ancient practices in medicine, Statistics were used in my research, along with an interdisciplinary approach.
@Jeffrey: You can see that the decision as to what coursework to take is heavily dependent on what direction you wish to take in your research. Now is the time to equip yourself with the skills and tools that you probably will need later. In your case you might want to take a e.g., a course on Evolution.
Jeffrey:
Let me reframe what you are saying above for the first part to see if I understand what you are asking. I think you may be getting at the fact that concepts from one field are useful for domain experts (or budding or future domain experts) from another in a variety of ways (not just in interdisciplinary work). For example, and I think this is what you may be getting at, knowledge from one field (e.g., psychology) may be useful at a kind of "meta" level (in the process of thinking about thinking about/deciding what one -- as a researcher-- should study/do next). There are many ways, for example, in which understanding of decision-making, interpersonal communication, and self-regulatory processes (from psychology and communication) are useful in asking ourselves questions about why we choose to study what we study (and how we spend our time -- and how can our knowledge in these domains help us to make better strategic research decisions…is that what you mean?).
My Ph.D is in psychology. But, since the early 1990's I've worked with faculty in engineering/with a background in engineering on a variety of research projects. What I've "transferred" from those experiences to other research is a much more "systems" approach to thinking about how to address a problem/question (or even what the question really should be). It's forced me often to reconsider assumptions in standard statistical modeling/research designs and whether alternative approaches (e.g., in computational modeling) might better enable (a perhaps transformative) understanding of those processes of interest (and perhaps at different levels of scale).
However, I think that there are different "dangers" of which one should to be aware in using concepts from highly different disciplines.
One danger is pure conceptualism - for instance the use of biological or physical concepts in order to speak about society or a literary text. In general, those concepts are used more as rhetorical devices than as tools for empirical investigation, description or explanation.
Another danger that I see, is reductionism - namely in the case of human and social sociences importing concepts from biology, physics, mathematics, etc. Striking examples are all these little "genes" of fear, criminality, hapiness, and I don' know what again that you meet regularly in so-called scientific works in psychology, psychiatry, etc. Another example was/is - as well known - the abusive use of Darwinian concepts in sociology or cultural studies.
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