What is the best way to synthesize literature from multiple disciplines in educational research?

If you are an educational researcher, you may often face the challenge of integrating literature from different disciplines to address complex and multidimensional problems. How can you synthesize literature from multiple disciplines in a rigorous and coherent way? In this article, we will discuss some strategies and methods to help you with this task.

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1 Define your research question

The first step to synthesize literature from multiple disciplines is to define your research question clearly and precisely. What is the main problem or gap that you want to address? What are the key concepts and terms that you need to operationalize? What are the assumptions and perspectives that you bring to the topic? Your research question should guide your literature search and selection, as well as your analytical framework.

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Peter Rogers

Author of, "Straight A at Stanford and on to Harvard. How to learn faster and think better." Expert on learning.
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I look for a topic that will help many people, and that has not been addressed. This is easy to do in medicine, because most research focus in on making money, by selling drugs. The clinically useful subject of studying what actually causes a disease has usually been given relatively little attention. That is the dilemma: go for the money and do meaningless work, or go for the quality, and get no money and almost no acclaim. My goal is to be the best doctor in the world, so I study the important topic, even though this leads to ZERO reimbursement and ZERO publicity.

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2 Identify relevant disciplines

The next step is to identify the relevant disciplines that can contribute to your research question. You may start with your own discipline and then expand to other related or complementary ones. For example, if you are interested in the impact of digital technologies on learning, you may want to include literature from education, psychology, sociology, computer science, and media studies. You should also consider the level of analysis (e.g., individual, group, organizational, societal) and the scope of inquiry (e.g., theoretical, empirical, historical, comparative) that each discipline offers.

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Peter Rogers

Author of, "Straight A at Stanford and on to Harvard. How to learn faster and think better." Expert on learning.
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Lots of topics have been addressed from the perspective of a single field. Most medical-health science papers have been written by people with narrow backgrounds. So it's quite routine that I have a better perspective on a topic than the paper's authors. To produce original work, one needs to read in multiple fields. Eg. to understand a medical illness, one typically needs to read the epidemiology, pathophysiology, nutrition, toxicology, molecular biology & history of treatment papers in order to understand it well. Almost no one does this. Most doctors have not done this for the common diseases in their own field. This always comes from individual effort. It is not part of required training.

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3 Search and select literature

The third step is to search and select literature from each discipline that is relevant to your research question. You may use different databases, keywords, filters, and criteria to locate and evaluate the sources. You should also keep track of the references and citations that you find, as well as the gaps and limitations that you notice. You may use software tools or matrices to organize and annotate your literature.

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Peter Rogers

Author of, "Straight A at Stanford and on to Harvard. How to learn faster and think better." Expert on learning.
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I try to swim in the topic. I work full time, so I have to be very efficient in chipping away at a topic. I try to listen to a book about it while commuting. I have a reading table in my bathroom, so I read about in there during #1 &2's. I read papers about it or watch videos about it, when I'm eating dinner. Gradually the big picture of the topic comes into understanding. I try to have conversations about it with someone knowledgeable. I make a you tube video about it. Then, if I'm really interested in the topic, I write a book chapter about it. Sometimes I will try to contact the author(s) of papers on the topic.

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4 Analyze and compare literature

The fourth step is to analyze and compare literature from different disciplines using a systematic and transparent method. You may use qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods to synthesize literature, depending on your research question and purpose. Some common methods include meta-analysis, meta-synthesis, integrative review, scoping review, and realist review. You should also consider the quality, validity, reliability, and generalizability of the literature that you include.

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Peter Rogers

Author of, "Straight A at Stanford and on to Harvard. How to learn faster and think better." Expert on learning.
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I've been a medical scholar for 42 years, so I can usually tell pretty fast if something medical is true & useful. I then read however many papers is necessary to confirm that something is correct; and to be able to convince others that it is correct.

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5 Integrate and interpret literature

The fifth step is to integrate and interpret literature from different disciplines to answer your research question and generate new insights. You may use different models or frameworks to integrate literature, such as interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary, or cross-disciplinary. You should also consider the similarities, differences, contradictions, and complementarities among the literature that you synthesize. You should also reflect on the implications, limitations, and recommendations of your synthesis.

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6 Communicate and disseminate literature

The final step is to communicate and disseminate literature from different disciplines to your target audience and stakeholders. You may use different formats and channels to present your synthesis, such as reports, articles, posters, presentations, podcasts, or blogs. You should also use clear and concise language, appropriate terminology, and visual aids to convey your main findings and arguments. You should also acknowledge the sources and contributions of the literature that you synthesize.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Peter Rogers

Author of, "Straight A at Stanford and on to Harvard. How to learn faster and think better." Expert on learning.
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I try to make my writings or videos aesthetically elegant, beautiful & funny. I don't do anything, unless I can do it well. Most university types are narrowminded, with blinders to anything outside their conventional field; so it's usually easy to outperform conventional "experts" from the big university. Usually they are a joke. In medicine, almost all the best work comes from individual geniuses from Podunk, who work on their own.

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What is the best way to synthesize literature from multiple disciplines in educational research?

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1 Define your research question

2 Identify relevant disciplines

3 Search and select literature

4 Analyze and compare literature

5 Integrate and interpret literature

6 Communicate and disseminate literature

7 Here’s what else to consider

K-12 Education

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What is the best way to synthesize literature from multiple disciplines in educational research?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your research question

2 Identify relevant disciplines

3 Search and select literature

4 Analyze and compare literature

5 Integrate and interpret literature

6 Communicate and disseminate literature

7 Here’s what else to consider

K-12 Education

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