If you've read the "Discourse"
module, you've learned about the main building blocks which shape all of
the various academic disciplines - the invisible college, primary
and secondary resources, discourse communities, and publication
cycle.
Of course, there are vast difference in the orientation and approach
to knowledge among these three schools of knowledge. Increasingly, scholars
of all disciplines conduct "multidisciplinary research"
(or "interdisciplinary research") which draws not from just one
academic discipline, but two or more disciplines.
This is especially true in the Social Sciences. This approach to
research recognizes that most research topics spill over into other disciplines.
For example, the topic of "learning disabilities" pertains
not only to education, but also psychology and even sociology.
When you determine which academic discipline(s) your research draws on,
you are also determining many of the qualities your project or paper will
contain.
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