Interdisciplinary Studies and Methodological Plurality: Some Considerations and Suggestions

Transition from discipline to interdisciplinary studies, in addition to epistemological plurality, signifies a kind of methodological plurality. Where the possibility of various and unspecialized perceptions is taken for granted and interdsciplinarity emerges, methods and tools are transformed as well. In this regard, interdisciplinarity involves two important changes in the system of knowledge: on the one hand, the claimed or imagined borderlines of a specific discipline or field are crossed by the concepts or variables of another discipline or field; on the other hand, the methods of research and study migrate from one discipline to another discipline. However, if these two changes do not occur based on firm foundations and predetermined criteria, they will result in mental and methodological confusion instead of effectiveness. The present article examines transition from discipline to interdisciplinary studies while taking into account the two challenges mentioned above and considering the outcomes of this transition in the scientific society of Iran.