Interdisciplinary Questioning
Break a complex problem into questions from relevant disciplines. Economic, political, social, biological, and other perspectives can reveal different causes, constraints, and evidence to investigate.
THE IDEA
Interdisciplinary Questions: An Example
Complex question: What can be done about the number of people who abuse illegal drugs?
Some of the domains of questions inherent in this question:
Economic
- What economic forces support drug use?
- What can be done to minimize the influence of money involved in drug culture?
Political
- What possible solutions to drug abuse are politically unacceptable?
- Are there any potential politically realistic solutions?
- To what extent does the political structure exacerbate the problem?
Social/Sociological
- What social structures and practices support drug abuse?
- How does gang membership contribute to drug abuse?
- How does membership within any group contribute to the problem or, conversely, insulate group members from abusing drugs?
Psychological
- How do factors such as stress, individual personality differences, and childhood traumas support drug abuse?
- What role, if any, does human irrationality play in drug abuse?
Biological
- How do genetics play a role in drug abuse?
- What biological changes in the body, resulting from drug abuse, contribute to the problem?
Educational
- What can educational institutions do to reduce the incidence of drug abuse?
- What role are they now playing to support or diminish the problem?
Religious
- What can religious institutions do to reduce the incidence of drug abuse?
- What role are they now playing in regard to the problem?
Cultural
- What cultural beliefs support the drug-abuse problem?
- What can we learn from cultures that have a low incidence of drug abuse?
When to use it
Analyzing public health issues like obesity or addiction by exploring economic, psychological, and cultural factors.
Designing a new educational curriculum: ask political, sociological, and educational subquestions to address diverse student needs.
Resolving a community conflict by examining social, religious, economic, and institutional perspectives.
Evaluating a business strategy by considering economic, psychological, and sociological impacts on stakeholders.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Drug Abuse Policy Analysis
The complex question 'What can be done about drug abuse?' is broken down into domain-specific subquestions: economic forces, political feasibility, social structures, psychological factors, biological influences, educational roles, religious institutions, and cultural beliefs. The questions identify different evidence to gather and constraints a proposed response would need to address.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a complex problem you face in your work or community. What would be the economic, political, sociological, psychological, and biological subquestions?
How might overlooking one domain (e.g., cultural or educational) lead to a flawed solution in the drug abuse example?
When you encounter a controversial issue, which domains do you usually neglect, and how could including them change your perspective?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- The Art of Asking Essential Questions Based on Critical Thinking Concepts and Socratic Principles (Linda Elder, Richard Paul)