Transdisciplinary Research on Individuals 

 

Research on Individuals.org

 

About this research

Transdisciplinary
Philosophy-of-Science (TPS) Paradigm

  Aims and scope

  Philosophical
  framework

  Metatheoretical
  framework

  Methodological
  framework

Topics and findings

Empirical applications

Publications

Science Blog

Media

Contact

 

 

Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm for Research on Individuals (TPS Paradigm)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 - Aims and Scope -



The paradigm's name

The Transdisciplinary Philosophy-of-Science Paradigm comprises a coherent system of interrelated philosophical, metatheoretical and methodological frameworks for researching individuals from different sociocultural communities and from different species. Therefore, this system is called a paradigm.

In these frameworks, concepts, approaches and methods from various scientific disciplines are systematically integrated, further developed and complemented by novel ones to enable applications and collaborative research that transcend disciplinary boundaries. Thus, unlike most paradigms, it does not indicate integration of a research area; instead, it builds on paradigms from various disciplines and therefore is transdisciplinary.

The paradigm's frameworks and concepts are aimed at supporting scientists to make explicit and scrutinise the philosophical assumptions underlying given scientific system and the metatheories, methodologies and research practices derived from them, thus enabling critical analyses and further developments. Therefore, its philosophy-of-science label (Uher, 2015a, 2015d, 2018c). 

Research on individuals is not a unified field but involves diverse sciences exploring phenomena in individuals or in relation to individuals: the life sciences because individuals are living organisms, the physical sciences because non-living phenomena comprise the essential surroundings of individuals (e.g., architectural and technological installations), the social sciences as individuals interact with other individuals, and psychology where individuals constitute the basic ontological unit, which awards this discipline a unique position within the sciences and philosophy. It also involves metrology because quantification and measurement are essential for all empirical sciences.

Philosophy of science: Philosophical assumptions, metatheories and methodologies

Philosophy-of-science refers to the most general level of scientific knowledge about the making of science. It comprises the philosophical assumptions (Collingwood) that scientists make about the nature of being and about the basic categories of existing and becoming and their interrelations (ontology). It also comprises fundamental notions about knowledge and rationality, their nature, scopes, possibilities, and general bases, as well as the distinction between justified belief and opinion (epistemology). On the basis of the particular philosophical presuppositions that havemade, scientists develop metatheories and methodologies.

TPS Paradigm - Philosophy of science and its branchesMetatheory is the critical analysis and taxonomic categorisation of theories and conceptual frameworks that have provided direction to research or were developed in a field as well as their foundations and structures. Metatheories also denote scientists' explicit and implicit assumptions and beliefs that determine what they consider to be objects of research in their field, what questions they ask and what they consider facts and data about these objects.

Methodology denotes the system of principles underlying the conduct of scientific enquiry, comprising methodological approaches and methods. Approaches provide the theoretical underpinning of the ways in which the research questions can be explored and that make particular research operations suited for this purpose and others not as well as explanations of what their outcomes indicate and why (philosophy of methods). Methods, in turn, denote the selection and construction of the specific research practices, procedures and techniques (e.g., behaviours and instruments) that are used to perform research operations (e.g., observing, videotaping, recording data; Uher, 2013, 2015a).

More information available in Publications and Science Blogs

© 2013-2024