Social capital and wellbeing

A Method to Constrain Review and Reporting of Literature in Transdisciplinary Research

work in progress

Transdisciplinary projects pose unique challenges to individual researchers. One of these challenges is the requirement to cover a very wide area of literature effectively. The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to aid researchers of transdisciplinary projects in systematic structuring and prioritisation of literature review/reporting process. The method is explained through a case of a Ph.D. research from which the method has emerged. Guidelines are provided to help individual researchers to work through the complexity of their own literature review task. An example is provided to demonstrate how the method is used by an individual researcher.  In this method, the researcher, who is undertaking transdisciplinary research, identifies and reflects on a long-term vision that he/she aims to contribute towards its achievement. Identification of a vision is the starting point for setting filters for narrowing the literature review. Further narrowing is done through an iterative process of identifying other filters by inquiring about the mission, context and content of the research and by answering some reflective questions. This method will help the individual researchers in tackling the daunting task of broad preparation required by transdisciplinary research projects during a -hopefully- transitionary period towards an academia fully embracing transdisciplinary praxis in order to solve socially-relevant complex problems.