Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research by Patricia Leavy

Author:Patricia Leavy [Patricia Leavy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

There are also environmental factors that come into play such as:

pollution

exposures to toxic materials

water and air quality

food quality (such as the high price and limited availability of organics)

Therefore, this is a transdisciplinary topic by nature. In order to get at the relevant issues, research needs to connect different bodies of knowledge from the natural sciences, environmental sciences and social sciences.

The Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) is a transdisciplinary organization that was forged in order to study cancer disparities in Florida and create effective health interventions in multiethnic, medically underserved communities. With funding from the National Cancer Institute the TBCCN partnered with local organizations and piloted several studies.

Meade, Menard, Luque, Martinez-Tyson and Gwede (2009) conducted two pilot studies on cancer disparities for TBCCN. Looking at the problem holistically, the team realized that the issue necessitated taking seriously recent transdisciplinary developments in embodiment theory. In this regard Meade and colleagues quote Krieger as follows: "We take it as a basic fact that we all live and act in bodies that literally embody biologically, across the life course—our societal and ecological contexts" (2005, 8, as quoted in Meade et al. 2009, 2). Therefore, the team combined the tenets of different relevant disciplines into a transdisciplinary conceptual structure larger than the sum of its parts. In this regard they applied a "socio-ecological framework" and considered the "embodiment of lifetime exposures" (2009,2) in order to understand cancer disparities. Given the complexity of the conditions which caused disparities in health the research team needed to develop innovative approaches to the problem. The primary objective was to serve community needs, and thus the principles of community-based participatory research were used.

The research team identified two levels of needs, the first with respect to empirical research initiatives and the second with respect to health promotion programs. Therefore, each pilot study involved the development of a research initiative and an outreach component.

The first study investigated colorectal cancer, which is the third leading cause of cancer deaths among Americans, with US blacks having the highest colorectal cancer rate and mortality rate of all groups (Meade et al. 2009). Given the dangers in grouping all black people into one homogeneous category, due to possible ethnic differences with respect to food preferences and other differences, the team decided to study three ethnic subgroups of US blacks. The research team recognized that in order to garner support and participation from the community of interest it was vital to employ the principles of community-based participatory research during all phases of the research. Therefore the research team created a cultural advisory group which they used during research design, determining the scope of the project, recruitment and all the way through data interpretation. Meade and colleagues explain the methodological implications and necessity of their participatory approach as follows: "Cultural advisors proved to be a critical asset to understanding and overcoming study design and recruitment barriers. They served as ambassadors and cultural brokers who facilitated linkage to community events and cultural organizations serving the populations of interest" (2009, 4).

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