Interdisciplinary Research Agenda Research Articles

The science of the placebo: towards an interdisciplinary research agenda.

The science of the placebo: towards an interdisciplinary research agenda.

Evolution for Our Time: A Theory of Legal Memetics

The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance for legal thought of recent developments in evolutionary theory which are associated with the notion of 'memetics'. 'Memetics' aims to account for processes of cultural transmission and change using a version of the 'genetic metaphor'. This is the idea that patterns of cultural evolution are closely analogous to those which occur in the natural world as a result of the interaction between genes, organisms and environments. At a further, more ambitious level, the initial metaphor gives way to a search for mechanisms which unite biological and cultural evolution. Identifying these general evolutionary mechanisms is part of a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary research agenda.

Finding Paradigms for the Future of Alcoholism Research: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

This is a review article and critique of current research strategies in the alcohol field. Although the alcohol field is proud of its multidisciplinary tradition and scientific findings within specific disciplines, there are very few models of cross-disciplinary research and communication. Currently, the favored model of risk is genetic; the favored model of pathophysiology is molecular neuroscience; and the favored model of clinical investigation is narrowly categorical. If there is a hierarchy within science that is based on explanatory power, then models of alcoholism emerging from neuroscience, molecular biology, and genetics should be able to accommodate (if not account for) the findings on clinical aspects of alcohol dependence, as well as data on differential risk, course, and recovery that come from the behavioral and social sciences. The first section of this article reviews the most popular models of alcohol dependence over the past 40 years. I argue that the currently fashionable categorical approach to diagnosis in DSM-IV (and ICD-10) has failed to serve as a framework for interdisciplinary research and has failed to meet the needs of human geneticists, population-based researchers, psychosocial researchers, basic scientists working in animal models, and patient-oriented researchers. I argue for a return to the dimensional approach to diagnosis in the alcohol dependence syndrome construct. In the second section of the article, I lay out an agenda for revitalized patient-oriented research in the alcohol field, as a bridge between basic biological research and innovations in clinical practice, as well as the key to a valid diagnostic system that can inform research strategies in genetics and population-based research. In the third section of the article, I highlight the interface between genetic and psychosocial models of risk and propose a possible structure for future collaboration. I conclude with a plea to funding agencies and investigators to translate discipline-based scientific findings into a science relevant to alcoholism by addressing the challenges and opportunities of an interdisciplinary research agenda on the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence and the multidimensional sources of risk.

Finding Paradigms for the Future of Alcoholism Research: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

This is a review article and critique of current research strategies in the alcohol field. Although the alcohol field is proud of its multidisciplinary tradition and scientific findings within specific disciplines, there are very few models of cross-disciplinary research and communication. Currently, the favored model of risk is genetic; the favored model of pathophysiology is molecular neuroscience; and the favored model of clinical investigation is narrowly categorical. If there is a hierarchy within science that is based on explanatory power, then models of alcoholism emerging from neuroscience, molecular biology, and genetics should be able to accommodate (if not account for) the findings on clinical aspects of alcohol dependence, as well as data on differential risk, course, and recovery that come from the behavioral and social sciences. The first section of this article reviews the most popular models of alcohol dependence over the past 40 years. I argue that the currently fashionable categorical approach to diagnosis in DSM-IV (and ICD-10) has failed to serve as a framework for interdisciplinary research and has failed to meet the needs of human geneticists, population-based researchers, psychosocial researchers, basic scientists working in animal models, and patient-oriented researchers. I argue for a return to the dimensional approach to diagnosis in the alcohol dependence syndrome construct. In the second section of the article, I lay out an agenda for revitalized patient-oriented research in the alcohol field, as a bridge between basic biological research and innovations in clinical practice, as well as the key to a valid diagnostic system that can inform research strategies in genetics and population-based research. In the third section of the article, I highlight the interface between genetic and psychosocial models of risk and propose a possible structure for future collaboration. I conclude with a plea to funding agencies and investigators to translate discipline-based scientific findings into a science relevant to alcoholism by addressing the challenges and opportunities of an interdisciplinary research agenda on the pathophysiology of alcohol dependence and the multidimensional sources of risk.

The science of the placebo: toward an interdisciplinary and research agenda, November 2000.

383 On November 19–21, 2000 the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored a conference on the science of the placebo (entitled The Science of the Placebo: Toward an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda) at the NIH in Bethesda, MD. The stated educational objectives of the conference were:

Disordered personalities and disordered concepts

This paper explores the uncertainties surrounding the diagnosis of personality disorder. Problems in relation to the reliability and validity of the diagnosis are examined, and their implications for our understanding of causation and decisions about intervention are discussed. Because of the difficulties surrounding the diagnosis, some suggestions are offered about an improved inter-disciplinary research agenda. Also because people with the diagnosis create extensive consternation and uncertainty for health and welfare professionals, some suggestions are made about providing an informed and supportive corporate response in localities. The paper concludes with a discussion of personality disorder and social policy.

An interdisciplinary research agenda for the study of ecological-economic systems in the American West

Increased public awareness of resource management issues and new attitudes toward resource conservation have led to great interest in the subject of the apposite use and management of natural and environmental resources in the American West. This paper analyzes this subject from an interdisciplinary ecological-economic perspective. Four salient issues concerning the study of the West's ecological-economic systems that remain inadequately understood are identified and then discussed. A research agenda is proposed to answer some key questions concerning the functioning, health, and management of the West's ecological-economic systems.

A Peace research agenda

Peace researchers need an interdisciplinary research agenda. It should focus on how American foreign policy is made, how new policies gain acceptance, and whether membership‐based peace organizations have access to the policy making process. We must try to better understand the impact of the American peace movement. About 10 years ago, I began exploring this when I asked activists and analysts whether the peace movement was serious about trying to influence public policy, and whether it was organized effectively to do so. I also wondered whether the tactics used were more likely to be expressive—aimed at making the actors feel better, or instrumental—aimed at changing policies. These and other questions were asked as part of a 1988 comprehensive national survey of organizations working for peace, and by a 1992 followup survey. Besides these questions, I've also been concerned with the external environment of U.S. peace movement organizations. What part of the foreign policy process is open to citizen‐group input? What groups have access to this decision making process? How can peace movement membership organizations gain access to the foreign policy decision making process? What constitutes “success” in influencing policy and how can it be measured? Put more sharply, how could one analyze the hypothesis that a tight elite controls foreign policy, and that peace‐movement organizations have little influence on this policy nexus? In 1987, a political scientist, Robert Lebow, argued that peace researchers must focus on how to get policies adopted by the relevant decision makers. As researchers, he claimed we know much more about the causes of conflicts and wars, and about measures to reduce tensions than we do about how to translate them into policy. According to Lebow, large grants go to diagnosis instead of therapy: overcoming the obstacles to good policymaking receives the least funding. This remains the case today.

Toward a more interdisciplinary research agenda: The potential contributions of sociology

This paper reviews some current trends in the sociological literature on distributive justice, emphasizing recent attempts to link stratification research and theories of distributive justice. In particular, research on the perceived justice and legitimacy of inequality (especially income inequality) is discussed. A description of several key unresolved issues which could benefit from interdisciplinary inquiry is also presented. Suggested topics for future research include: the emergence of norms of distributive justice, the conditions under which inequality is perceived as legitimate and just, and the link between collective action and perceptions of distributive and procedural justice.

Empirical Studies of Distributive Justice

Previous articleNext article No AccessSurvey ArticleEmpirical Studies of Distributive JusticeKarol Edward SołtanKarol Edward Sołtan Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Ethics Volume 92, Number 4Jul., 1982 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/292384 Views: 15Total views on this site Citations: 15Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1982 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Yixuan Liu, Liumeng Li, Guomei Miao, Xinyan Yang, Yinghui Wu, Yanling Xu, Yonghong Gao, Yongzhi Zhan, Yiwei Zhong, Shujuan Yang Relationship between Children’s Intergenerational Emotional Support and Subjective Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: The Mediation Role of the Sense of Social Fairness, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no.11 (Dec 2021): 389.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010389Serge-Christophe Kolm Macrojustice, 4 (Jul 2009).https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511510939Marie Lam The Perception of Inequalities, Sociology 38, no.11 (Feb 2004): 5–23.https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038504039355Gregory Mitchell, Philip E. Tetlock, Daniel G. Newman, Jennifer S. Lerner Experiments Behind the Veil: Structural Influences on Judgments of Social Justice, Political Psychology 24, no.33 (Sep 2003): 519–547.https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00339Gregory Mitchell, Philip E. Tetlock, Daniel G. Newman, Jennifer S. Lerner Experiments Behind the Veil: A Hypothetical Societies Approach to the Study of Social Justice, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2002).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.306564Graham F. Wagstaff Equity, equality, and need: Three principles of justice or one? An analysis of “equity as desert”, Current Psychology 13, no.22 (Jun 1994): 138–152.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686797CAROLE BURGOYNE, ADAM SWIFT, GORDON MARSHALL Inconsistency in Beliefs about Distributive Justice: A Cautionary Note, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 23, no.44 (Aug 2012): 327–342.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.1993.tb00539.x References, (Dec 2009).https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203400098.bmattDoug Bond, Jong-Chul Park An Empirical Test of Rawls's Theory of Justice: A Second Approach, in Korea and the United States, Simulation & Gaming 22, no.44 (Aug 2016): 443–462.https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878191224002David Miller Recent Theories of Social Justice, British Journal of Political Science 21, no.33 (Jan 2009): 371–391.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123400006207Norman Frohlich, Joe A. Oppenheimer Choosing Justice in Experimental Democracies with Production, American Political Science Review 84, no.22 (Aug 2014): 461–477.https://doi.org/10.2307/1963529Karen S. Cook Toward a more interdisciplinary research agenda: The potential contributions of sociology, Social Justice Research 1, no.11 (Mar 1987): 5–18.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049381Norman Frohlich, Joe A. Oppenheimer, Cheryl L. Eavey Laboratory Results on Rawls's Distributive Justice, British Journal of Political Science 17, no.11 (Jan 2009): 1–21.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123400004580Karol Soltan Public Policy and Justice, (Jan 1986): 235–268.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3511-3_8Joe A. Oppenheimer Public choice and three ethical properties of politics, Public Choice 45, no.33 (Jan 1985): 241–255.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00124022

The Effect of High School Size on Student Participation, Satisfaction, and Attendance

In the first issue of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Guthrie (1979) proposed an agenda for interdisciplinary research on organizational scale and school success. This agenda could include questions about the relationship of school and school district size to economic efficiency, parent and citizen participation, and student outcomes, approached through a variety of research methods. It could also lead to the development of common data bases and integrated studies useful for policy decisions. This paper presents a preliminary effort, using existing data, to deal with one aspect of these issues, the effect of high school size on student participation, satisfaction, and attendance.

The economics of early childhood education and day-care

This article discusses the economic rationale of providing educational and day-care facilities to young children, using an expanded social cost-benefit frame-work. The benefits side, in particular, includes the direct lifetime productive gains by working mothers and the indirect earnings increments of the recipients of these social services via the boosting of early abilities and eventual higher scholastic achievement. Recently compiled statistics in OECD Member Countries are used to support the argument that we know very little about the socio-economic effects of providing kindergarten and nursery facilities. An interdisciplinary research agenda is proposed to increase our understanding in this elusive area of social policy.