Working together: Crossing discipline boundaries to evaluate complex interventions

Abstract

Nurses, it is argued, should participate in interdisciplinary research, yet there is little written about working in an interdisciplinary environment in research. This paper sets out some reflections on the experience of a nurse and a health economist working together on a series of studies. A number of difficulties are identified as themes running through the experience of interdisciplinary research: evaluating complex interventions, disruption of normal academic and scientific life, competition between disciplines and teams, finding a common language and learning to work together, finding the common ground and mutual self-interest, and learning to respect other perspectives and disciplines. Rosenfield's (1992) taxonomy of cross-disciplinary research is presented as a model to explain the development of our own approach. A commitment to the goal of transdisciplinarity in research is suggested.