Understanding place meaning through integrative research: Perspectives from the natural resource social sciences and the humanities

Abstract

The complexity of our world demands that our knowledge systems shift from reductionist and mechanistic to holistic, organic, and complex approaches that consider diverse viewpoints. This is especially true when exploring human-nature relationships. This article illustrates our attempt to integrate the natural resource social sciences and the humanities while exploring place meanings at nature-based religious places. We begin by articulating what multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary research are, why they are important, and challenges faced when embarking upon such joint endeavors. We then present the multiplicity of our data-gathering techniques such as textual interpretations, onsite observation, oral histories, photographs, focus groups, interviews, and onsite surveys. We highlight meanings associated with our four study sites and, in the process, discuss insights learned through our integrative work. We hope that this will provide a framework for future collaboration among social scientists, humanities scholars, and eventually natural scientists collectively working to understand human-nature relationships.