Cross-disciplinary Analysis Research Articles

A cross-disciplinary analysis of hedging in postgraduate students’ research proposals

The study explores the distribution of hedging devices in research proposals written by Russian postgraduatestudents majoring in engineering and humanities. In analyzing hedging from a cross-disciplinary perspective, this study adopted the methods of quantitative, contrastive and contextual analysis. Data were collected from 36 research proposals written by postgraduate students within the English language course. The results showed that research proposals written by humanities postgraduate students featured more hedges than those written by engineering ones, who did not tend to mitigate their claims. The low frequency of hedging markers in engineering research proposals was explained both by discipline-specific writing conventions and less developed language proficiency. The contrastive study of academic texts written by students majoring in two disciplines could complement the scarce body of research into non-native writers’ academic discourse and contribute to the practice in English for Academic Purposes teaching to postgraduate students. The findings can be used by curriculum designers to create materials for Russian postgraduate students who study English for Academic Purposes. Целью исследования является сопоставительный анализ маркеров хеджирования в научных текстах аспирантов, обучающихся по специальностям гуманитарного и технического направлений подготовки. В процессе исследования хеджей были использованы методы количественного, контекстуального и контрастивного анализа. Материалом для сравнительного анализа послужили 36 проектов научных исследований, написанных аспирантами в рамках курса английского языка. Анализ показал, что проекты аспирантов гуманитарных специальностей содержали значительно большее количество маркеров хеджирования, чем тексты аспирантов технических специальностей, которые избегали смягчения категоричных высказываний. Был сделан вывод о том, что низкая частотность хеджей, являющихся важными компонентами академического дискурса, связана как с дисциплинарными особенностями письма, так и с более низким уровнем владения английским языком. Результаты исследования могут быть использованы при разработке материалов для преподавания английского языка для академических целей в рамках подготовки к кандидатскому экзамену.

Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of the Syntactic and Lexical Features of Chinese Master Thesis Titles

Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of the Syntactic and Lexical Features of Chinese Master Thesis Titles

Noted, but not decisive. A cross-disciplinary analysis of metrics usage in Polish evaluative cultures

Abstract Metrics-based reasoning patterns diffuse from core to periphery as peripheral and semi-peripheral countries adopt Western evaluation standards as formal categories or cultural scripts. While these scripts are applied across disciplines, each field maintains its own traditional criteria for scientific assessment. Consequently, scholars navigate between internalized and externally imposed evaluative frameworks when writing reviews. This study examines how metrics-based reasoning diffuses differently across disciplines through evaluative practices, with metrics being transformed and interpreted within the context of each field's unique evaluative culture. To compare diffusion patterns, this article analyzes 174 negative habilitation reviews across four Polish disciplines: art history, mathematics, materials engineering, and sociology. Despite uniform policy incentives, reviewers employed diverse criteria when assessing publication records. Materials engineering exhibited the most extensive use and emphasis on metrics, while art history relied minimally on indicators. Crucially, metrics were never the sole basis for negative conclusions but were consistently accompanied by additional forms of reasoning.

Deceived by Immersion: A Systematic Analysis of Deceptive Design in Extended Reality

The well-established deceptive design literature has focused on conventional user interfaces. With the rise of extended reality (XR), understanding deceptive design’s unique manifestations in this immersive domain is crucial. However, existing research lacks a full, cross-disciplinary analysis that analyzes how XR technologies enable new forms of deceptive design. Our study reviews the literature on deceptive design in XR environments. We use thematic synthesis to identify key themes. We found that XR’s immersive capabilities and extensive data collection enable subtle and powerful manipulation strategies. We identified eight themes outlining these strategies and discussed existing countermeasures. Our findings show the unique risks of deceptive design in XR, highlighting implications for researchers, designers, and policymakers. We propose future research directions that explore unintentional deceptive design, data-driven manipulation solutions, user education, and the link between ethical design and policy regulations.

Smart Cities for All? Bridging Digital Divides for Socially Sustainable and Inclusive Cities

This paper aims to emphasize the need for enhancing inclusivity and accessibility within smart-city societies. It represents the first attempt to apply Amartya Sen’s capability approach by exploring the implications of digital divides for promoting inclusive and climate-friendly cities that prioritize well-being, equity, and societal participation. Sen’s framework recognizes individual variations in converting resources into valuable ‘functionings’, and herein emphasizes the importance of aligning personal, social, and environmental conversion factors for individuals to fully navigate, participate in, and enjoy the benefits provided by smart cities. Adopting the capability approach and employing a cross-disciplinary analysis of the scientific literature, the primary objective is to broaden understanding of how to improve inclusivity and accessibility within smart-city societies, with a specific focus on marginalized community members facing first- and second-level digital divides. This paper underscores the importance of adopting a systemic perspective on climate-smart city navigation and stresses the importance of establishing a unified governing body responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and enhancing smart-city functionality. The paper concludes by summarizing some policy recommendations to boost social inclusion and address climate change in smart cities, such as creating capability-enhancing institutions, safeguarding redundancy in public-choice options, empowering citizens, and leveraging academic knowledge in smart-city policy formulation.

Shanghai Tou-se-we Orphanage and the Transformation of Children's Relief in Modern China

In order to explore the development and transformation of the orphan relief cause in modern China, this paper takes Tou-se-we Orphanage as the research object, and uses the methods of literature research and historical comparison to cross-disciplinary analysis of the children's cause model of Tou-se-we Orphanage and its impact on the transformation of the children's relief cause in modern China. First, the founding and development of Tou-se-we Orphanage was closely related to the background of modern China and the social characteristics of Shanghai. Second, Tou-se-we Orphanage created a relief model that attached equal importance to upbringing and education, which not only saved the orphans' lives, but also provided them with a skill to survive. Third, Tou-se-we Orphanage opened up a relief road different from the ancient Chinese orphanages. Under its influence, China's orphan relief had also begun to place equal emphasis on nurturing and nurturing orphans to be able to support themselves when they grow up. Therefore, Tou-se-we Orphanage became a typical representative of the orphan relief cause in modern Shanghai, which influenced the transformation and development of the orphan relief cause in China, and also provided a positive reference for today's children's relief cause.

Aligning cooperative supply chain relationships with firm strategy: a cross-disciplinary analysis

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the conflicting views in supply chain and strategic management literature regarding cooperative supply chain relationships (CSCR) and firm performance. Supply chain literature suggests a universally positive impact of CSCR on performance, irrespective of a firm’s strategy. In contrast, strategic management literature contends that the effectiveness of CSCR depends on their alignment with the firm’s competitive strategy. The research aims to clarify this disparity, offering insights into the strategic use of CSCR for enhancing firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper theorizes the integration of perspectives for the impact of CSCR on firm performance by examining the relationships considering the alignment of cost leadership and product differentiation strategies with supplier and customer relationships. Plant-level survey data is analyzed using regression techniques to test four hypotheses.FindingsAll four main relationships (cost leadership, product differentiation, supplier relationship and customer relationship) on firm performance are statistically significant. However, cost leadership firms are better aligned to their chosen strategy when they have strong relationships with suppliers, whereas similar relationships with customers create misalignment, negatively influencing firm performance. In contrast, product differentiators benefit by investing in relationships with customers rather than with suppliers.Practical implicationsA firm’s performance does not solely depend on its CSCR efforts but on aligning them with the firm’s overall strategy. Therefore, managers need to be cognizant of the firm’s competitive strategy when investing in CSCR. Failing to do so could negatively impact firm performance and, eventually, its ability to compete in the marketplace.Originality/valueScholars have advocated for the importance of examining competing perspectives of phenomena, both within and across various bodies of literature, as cross-disciplinary analysis often brings enhanced focus and depth, leading to improved understanding. This research is one of the initial efforts to empirically analyze the varying perspectives on CSCR in supply chain and strategic management literature. This cross-disciplinary approach can yield a more integrated perspective.

Resilient design in nuclear energy: Critical lessons from a cross-disciplinary analysis of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident

This paper presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Along with the latest observations and simulation studies, we synthesize the time-series and event progressions during the accident across multiple disciplines, including in-plant physics and engineering systems, operators' actions, emergency responses, meteorology, radionuclide release and transport, land contamination, and health impacts. We identify three key factors that exacerbated the consequences of the accident: (1) the failure of Unit 2 containment venting, (2) the insufficient integration of radiation measurements and meteorology data in the evacuation strategy, and (3) the limited risk assessment and emergency preparedness. We conclude with new research and development directions to improve the resilience of nuclear energy systems and communities, including (1) meteorology-informed proactive venting, (2) machine learning-enabled adaptive evacuation zones, and (3) comprehensive risk-informed emergency planning while leveraging the experience from responses to other disasters.

Author self-reference: A cross-linguistic/cultural and cross-disciplinary analysis

This study explored the use of author self-reference from cross-linguistic/cultural and cross-disciplinary perspectives in research articles (RAs). Based on a self-built corpus consisting of two disciplines (Computer Science and Linguistics) and two languages (Chinese and English), this study extracted the self-reference markers and compared their uses across the linguistic/cultural and disciplinary corpora. The cross-linguistic/cultural analysis showed that English RAs contain a higher frequency of first-person pronouns, while Chinese RAs tend to utilize more inanimate NPs in both disciplines. The cross-disciplinary comparison identified that English Computer Science texts are characterized by a more explicit authorial persona, while Chinese RAs display a mitigated authorial presence in the text construction. The findings contribute to our knowledge of how the specific disciplinary community and cultural conventions influence writers’ manifestation of their authorial presence.

A Comparative Study on Mental Disorder Conceptualization: A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis.

The conceptualization of mental disorders varies among professionals, impacting diagnosis, treatment, and research. This cross-disciplinary study aimed to understand how various professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, medical students, philosophers, and social sciences experts, perceive mental disorders, their attitudes towards the disease status of certain mental states, and their emphasis on biological versus social explanatory attributions. A survey of 371 participants assessed their agreement on a variety of conceptual statements and the relative influence of biological or social explanatory attribution for different mental states. Our findings revealed a consensus on the need for multiple explanatory perspectives in understanding psychiatric conditions and the influence of social, cultural, moral, and political values on diagnosis and classification. Psychiatrists demonstrated balanced bio-social explanatory attributions for various mental conditions, indicating a potential shift from the biological attribution predominantly observed among medical students and residents in psychiatry. Further research into factors influencing these differing perspectives is necessary.

Evaluating Sustainable Online Education: A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of IT Device Utilization among Slovakian and Hungarian University Students

By the onset of the 21st century, online presence had become prevalent in higher education, with the COVID-19 pandemic further accelerating this trend. However, the success of online education and its assessment by students can differ significantly from region to region and according to the field of study. This can be influenced by students’ habits of using IT devices, but it can also occur the other way around. In this research, experiences related to online education were examined in the fields of Informatics, Agriculture and Pharmacy education at two higher-education institutions in Slovakia and one in Hungary, considering the environmental and social sustainability implications. In the study, in addition to simple statistical methods, a cross-tabulation analysis was carried out using Cramer’s V method. The results have shown that the students of the investigated institutions confidently navigate the online world; they are conscious users of IT tools without being addicted. A total of 74% of students in Mosonmagyaróvár believe they possess sufficient information about the risks associated with computers, mobile phones, and the Internet, whereas only 34% of students in Košice share the same sentiment. The reason for the differences between these characteristics can be attributed to the specialties of the different majors, and not to those arising from regional differences, raising important questions about the ecological sustainability of online education practices. A relatively great consistency can be observed in the assessment of online learning among students from the three institutions, with approximately 85% expressing overall satisfaction with the online learning experience. The easier availability of study materials and savings on travel are mentioned as advantages, contributing to economic sustainability. However, separation from their mates and the lack of practical training may be regarded as a disadvantage for them, as they seem to have a preference for face-to-face training. Overall, it may be concluded that purely online training in the fields of Informatics, Agriculture, and Pharmacy training is not feasible for the time being, necessitating a balanced and sustainable approach for the future.

Looking For A Changing Tradition: Kazakh Traditional Doll In Cer-emony, Rite, Game And Art Practice

The study of the doll and its place in the lives of children allows us to more deeply realize its role in any traditional culture, as well as to comprehend the reasons for the modern "doll boom." The Kazakh traditional doll "quyrshaq," balancing between ritual and play practice, has always been the prerogative of the institution of female subculture. Starting from early childhood, transforming, it accompanied its mistress in direct and indirect form up to the very old age. The traditional Turkic doll, considered on the example of Kazakh "quyrshaq," demonstrates not only the chronology of women's life but also characterizes the purely female process of communication with higher powers - deities and spirits of the dead from the perspective of the aforementioned aspects. Consideration of "quyrshaq" as an integral part of women's subculture in the historical retrospective through the prism of sacred and secular will reveal its peculiarities, specify the historical and cultural interrelations between neighboring and related peoples, as well as trace the transformation of this tradition. In order to reveal the designated topic, the research utilized retrospective, comparative, structural-functional, and semiotic approaches. Additionally, a cross-disciplinary analysis was incorporated to enrich the understanding of the cultural nuances surrounding the traditional doll. Nowadays, the traditional doll has fallen out of use due to the extinction of ritual and ceremonial tradition, as well as the appearance of industrial samples of children's dolls of European type in the middle of the twentieth century and their complete dominance in the market in modern times. Information about the Kazakh doll and domestic idols as its cultural prototypes was collected by the authors during the study of archaeological and ethnographic museum exhibits, as well as during field research among the residents of Almaty, Karaganda, and other regions of Kazakhstan in 2017-2019. Thus, the present study has shown that the doll has always reflected certain ethnic and regional traditions or innovations in culture. Through playing with a doll, children reproduced various life situations in accordance with the socio-normative culture of the Kazakh ethnic norms and rules of behavior of the ethnic group. Children through playing with dolls received vital lessons of socio-psychological harmony of personality with the outside world, which in a broad sense can be interpreted as the basis of ritual and ceremonial practice in traditional society. In the present period, designer or art dolls are one of the markers of national revival, characteristic of the whole artistic life of modern Kazakhstan. This resurgence is indicative of a broader cultural renaissance, with these dolls serving as symbolic artifacts embodying the rich heritage and artistic identity of the nation.

Development of the Chrono-Systemic Timeline as a Tool for Cross-Sectional Analysis of Droughts—Application in Wallonia

Drought is a complex hazard with multiple and often dramatic impacts, depending on the environmental and societal context of the affected area. In recent years, due to global warming, this phenomenon has been occurring more intensely and frequently, affecting regions worldwide, including Wallonia, the southern part of Belgium. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the interdisciplinary dynamics of drought in order to improve its anticipation and crisis management by stakeholders. To achieve these objectives, a cross-disciplinary analysis tool has been developed: the chrono-systemic timeline. Applied here to the severe drought of 2018 in Wallonia, this tool provides a comprehensive visual representation of the crisis, simultaneously offering temporal and multi-sectoral perspectives. The data incorporated into the model encompass environmental conditions, economic and social contexts, as well as political and administrative decisions made during the case study. The analysis of the chrono-systemic timeline reveals numerous interdisciplinary connections, a prolonged period of significant impacts, a gradual return to a ‘normal’ situation, and a reactive form of crisis management. In conclusion, the study emphasizes the importance of giving due consideration to the risks associated with water deficits and advocates for the implementation of anticipatory and adaptive management strategies to enhance our ability to effectively address droughts.

Data Curation Education: Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of Master's Programs

With growing emphasis on data curation practice in both science and industry, there has been a call for information professionals to take on a substantial role in data curation. Library and information science (LIS) education has been responding to this call by offering various training opportunities from Master's education to professional development. The most recent effort to systematically review a data curation curriculum offered by ALA-accredited LIS schools was in 2012, so it is time to revisit the progress and evolution of data curation education. The main goal of this study is to analyze the course content from the syllabi of various programs to understand what is being taught in LIS schools throughout graduate-level education. Further, because the need for data curation is apparent across different disciplines, and thus not only LIS but also other disciplines have been offering data curation courses, this study also analyzed syllabi from other disciplines. A total of 80 syllabi were analyzed in this study: 15 syllabi from 9 ALA-accredited institutions and 65 syllabi from 53 institutions of Carnegie Classification (CC). Our findings suggest a notable growth in LIS education in data curation since 2012, but LIS education still provides less training in technical skills. There was also a distinctive difference in educational approach to teach data curation between LIS (user- and service-oriented) and other disciplines (technical skills−focused), which brought different strengths and weaknesses in curriculum.

Economic and Environmental Implications of Sustainable Agricultural Practices in Arid Regions: A Cross-disciplinary Analysis of Plant Science, Management, and Economics

This study addresses the pressing challenge of promoting sustainable agricultural practices in arid regions, focusing on their economic and environmental implications. Arid regions face one-of-a-kind challenges because of water scarcity and environmental fragility, necessitating the adoption of practices that guarantee agricultural viability without compromising ecological balance. The study's goal is to lead a complete cross-disciplinary analysis encompassing Plant Science, Management, and Economics, aiming to reveal insight into the intricate relationship between sustainable agricultural practices, economic viability, and environmental preservation. The research issue focuses on identifying viable strategies that harmonize the economic and environmental dimensions of agriculture in arid regions. The exploration of existing studies gives insights into the adoption of innovative technologies, including accurate irrigation systems, drought-resistant crop varieties, and eco-friendly pest management methods. Through the analysis of the gathered data, this study uncovers major patterns and findings regarding the economic feasibility of sustainable practices in arid regions. It integrates the mind-boggling interactions between agricultural efficiency, cost-adequacy, and environmental sustainability. The research culminates in a bunch of recommendations for policymakers, emphasizing the requirement for tailored incentives, information dissemination, and integrated management approaches. In conclusion, this paper highlights the paramount importance of harmonizing economic and environmental dimensions in arid area agriculture through sustainable practices. It also acknowledges the limitations inherent in secondary data analysis and the necessity for further empirical research. The synthesis of insights from Plant Science, Management, and Economics contributes to a holistic understanding of the subject and aligns with the journal's commitment to multidisciplinary research.

Are some disciplines ‘hard to engage’? A cross-disciplinary analysis of university teachers’ approaches to internationalisation of the curriculum

ABSTRACT Internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC) as an important element of internationalisation has seen many challenges. The literature shows that successful IoC cases are rare. Drawing on the concepts of powerful knowledge and ‘knowing’, we argue that a more comprehensive understanding of knowledge engagement in the IoC process is needed. Currently, engaging knowledge appears to be a barrier to IoC, particularly in hard disciplines such as science and engineering. This study investigated how faculty members from different disciplines engaged knowledge in their approaches to IoC through semi-structured interviews with 34 faculty members based in three Hong Kong universities. The findings show that engaging knowledge is indispensable to IoC because it provides theoretical foundations for ‘being’ and substantiates discussions on global issues using disciplinary lenses. Furthermore, faculty members from all disciplines show productive ways of engaging knowledge, whilst the differences lie in the expected role of ‘knower’ and the relationship between ‘knowing’ and ‘being’. Specifically, facilitating an intimate relationship between ‘knowing’ and ‘being’ through students’ own dispositions was featured in soft disciplines, whilst taking perspectives based on scientific principles was identified in hard disciplines.

Is research funding always beneficial? A cross-disciplinary analysis of U.K. research 2014–20

Abstract Although funding is essential for some types of research and beneficial for others, it may constrain academic choice and creativity. Thus, it is important to check whether it ever seems unnecessary. Here we investigate whether funded U.K. research tends to be higher quality in all fields and for all major research funders. Based on peer review quality scores for 113,877 articles from all fields in the U.K.’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, we estimate that there are substantial disciplinary differences in the proportion of funded journal articles, from Theology and Religious Studies (16%+) to Biological Sciences (91%+). The results suggest that funded research is likely to be of higher quality overall, for all the largest research funders, and for 30 out of 34 REF Units of Assessment (disciplines or sets of disciplines), even after factoring out research team size. There are differences between funders in the average quality of the research supported, however. Funding seems particularly associated with higher research quality in health-related fields. The results do not show cause and effect and do not take into account the amount of funding received but are consistent with funding either improving research quality or being won by high-quality researchers or projects.

Traditional Healing Expectations in Light of Placebo and Performance Studies

This article examines what expectations lay people (those not considered folk healers themselves) had for pre-industrial Finnish-Karelian healing traditions, how these expectations were represented in archived folklore materials, and how they, in turn, affected the healing traditions. The study represents a cross-disciplinary analysis of the subject, with theoretical perspectives drawn from performance studies, cognitive science memory studies, and placebo studies. Via a two-step analysis, this article examines the different meanings given to traditional healing methods and suggests that these methods increased the placebo effect in several ways, most importantly by fulfilling the general expectations for healing performances. The article also proposes that the placebo effect affected the way that lay people considered efficacious healing performances.

Normalizing Canada−China relations through development diplomacy: a case study of Canadian legacies from the first IFAD-funded international development-aid project in China, 1981–1988

ABSTRACT This article applies historical research with cross-disciplinary analysis to investigate some “lost” stories of Canadian engagement in China’s first multilateral development-aid project in 1981–1988. Policy reflection on bilateral relations can benefit from expanding recognition of some early Canadian experiences marginally examined in this significant case of Development Diplomacy within a Chinese context. Almost forgotten, these collaboration practices yet started when a small team of Canadian agricultural specialists provided three years of consulting service to this Northern Pasture and Livestock Development project co-funded by the IFAD. Our archival inquiries create refreshing lessons for international development-aid initiatives that advocate community-based, multiple-stakeholders collaboration for restoring bilateral relations.

The rhetoric of negation in research articles: A cross-disciplinary analysis of appraisal resources

Research on negation has generally explored the cross-linguistic similarities and differences of a host of widely spoken languages with little attention to its nuances within academic genres and disciplines. Accordingly, and given the co-articulation of negation with various interpersonal and evaluative resources, this study examined appraisal subsystems in 360 research articles on astrophysics, chemistry, geology, psychology, linguistics, and political science (60 papers from each discipline) published between 2018 and 2020. Comparative analyses of appraisal resources revealed significantly greater employment of total engagement and graduation, acknowledge, concede, counter, denial, distance, entertain, pronounce, justifying, affect, judgment, positive polarity of attitude, force, and softening devices in soft disciplines. However, hard sciences allowed denser employment of appreciation, neutral polarity of attitude, and sharpening resources. The results of the text/pragmatic analysis of denial further indicated a stronger preference for disalignment, cautious detachment, and unfulfilled expectations functions in soft sciences and varying negation patterns across both subcorpora. The line-by-line annotations revealed either the independent use of denial markers or their co-articulation with other appraisal options. An important implication of this study is awareness-raising about the rhetorical conventions of maintaining an authorial stance and promoting a sense of disciplinary community.