The key difference lies in how disciplines interact: multidisciplinary involves multiple disciplines working side-by-side on a problem, while cross-disciplinary involves using one discipline's perspective to examine another.
Understanding the Approaches
Both multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches involve engaging with more than one field of study or practice, but they do so in distinct ways. Understanding this distinction is crucial for effective collaboration and innovation.
Multidisciplinary Approach
As defined by the provided reference (06-Jul-2021), a multidisciplinary approach involves:
"people from different disciplines working together, each drawing on their disciplinary knowledge".
In this model:
- Multiple Disciplines: Several disciplines are involved.
- Working Together: Individuals from these different fields collaborate on a shared project or problem.
- Maintaining Identity: Each person primarily applies the knowledge, skills, and methods specific to their own discipline.
- Additive Contribution: Contributions from each discipline are brought together, often adding layers of understanding or different pieces to solve a puzzle.
Practical Examples:
- A team designing a new building includes an architect, a structural engineer, an electrical engineer, and a landscape architect. Each expert contributes their specific knowledge to the overall project.
- A medical team treating a complex illness might include a physician, a nurse, a physical therapist, and a psychologist, each providing care from their unique perspective.
Cross-Disciplinary Approach
The reference defines a cross-disciplinary approach as:
"viewing one discipline from the perspective of another".
This involves a different kind of interaction:
- Perspective Shift: One discipline is used as a lens or framework through which to understand, analyze, or inform another discipline.
- Applying Insights: Ideas, methods, or theories from one field are applied to issues or concepts in a different field.
- Potential for New Insights: This can lead to novel understandings within the discipline being examined, seen through an unfamiliar light.
Practical Examples:
- Using sociological theories to analyze economic trends.
- Applying principles from physics to understand biological systems (biophysics).
- Studying art history through the lens of political science.
Key Differences Summarized
Here's a brief comparison based on the definitions provided:
| Feature | Multidisciplinary Approach | Cross-Disciplinary Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Core Action | Different disciplines work together. | One discipline views or informs another. |
| Discipline Role | Each discipline contributes its own specific knowledge. | One discipline provides a perspective on another. |
| Interaction | Disciplines work side-by-side or in parallel. | One discipline's framework is applied to another. |
| Outcome Focus | Combining diverse expertise to address a problem. | Gaining new insights into one field by using another's view. |
| Reference Info | "people from different disciplines working together, each drawing on their disciplinary knowledge" | "viewing one discipline from the perspective of another" |
Related Terms
While not directly defined in the provided reference, other terms describe inter-discipline interactions:
- Intradisciplinary: Working within a single discipline (as noted in the reference).
- Interdisciplinary: Often implies a more integrated approach where disciplines interact and potentially merge or synthesize concepts to create a new, unified approach. It goes beyond simply working side-by-side or applying a perspective, aiming for a synthesis.
- Transdisciplinary: Typically involves transcending individual disciplines to work on a common problem, often including stakeholders outside of academia, and potentially forming new conceptual frameworks that are independent of traditional disciplines.
In essence, multidisciplinary is about collaboration from separate fields, cross-disciplinary is about applying one field's lens to another, and inter/transdisciplinary represent deeper levels of integration or transcendence of disciplinary boundaries.
