Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies: Business and Psychology

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH QUESTION ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
INSTRUCTIONS
Develop an Interdisciplinary Research Question that incorporates both of your Areas of Study. Your question should also be researchable in an interdisciplinary sense, substantiated by research conducted by academic experts in each Area of Study. Provide a 150-200 word explanation of why you selected this question.
Interdisciplinary Research Question Assignment Examples
Example Question 1: What is the cause of teen apathy toward learning?
Example Question 2: Why should the government mandate a limit on the size of sugary drinks?
Through these examples, the research questions are connecting two Areas of Study (or discipline).
For Question 1, the researcher is merging the Areas of Study of Psychology and Education.
For Question 2, the researcher is merging the Areas of Study of American Government and Public & Community Health.
Tips for Developing a Quality Interdisciplinary Research Question
It is essential to develop a specific research question that holds your interest and is specific so you can focus your annotated bibliography. For example, researching a broad topic such as "Is coal a good fuel source" is difficult since there may be hundreds of sources on all aspects of this topic. On the other hand, a focused question such as "Should natural gas replace coal as a fuel source for electricity production?" is easier to research and can be covered in more depth.
Apply the following questions to your own Interdisciplinary Research Question to evaluate its quality:
1. Does the question address an interdisciplinary topic or issue that inspires my own thoughts and opinions?
2. Is the question easily and fully researchable?
3. What type of information do I need to answer the research question?
For example, the research question "What impact has federal deregulation had on commercial airline safety?" will obviously require certain types of information:
o statistics on airline crashes before and after
o statistics on other safety problems before and after
o information about maintenance practices before and after
o information about government safety requirements before and after
4. Is the scope of this information reasonable? (e.g., can I really research 10 on-line writing programs developed over a span of 10 years?)
5. Given the type and scope of the information that I need, is my question too broad or too narrow?
6. What sources will have the type of information that I need to answer the research question (journals, books, internet resources, government documents, and people)?
7. Given my answers to the above questions, do I have a quality research question that I actually will be able to answer by doing research?