Research management, institutional arrangements and the quest for integration in mixed-farming innovation: the emergence of point-of-practice integration

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 928 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Price
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Research Management ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Research Teams

Modern science and contemporary research and development programs are characterised by societal, managerial and political expectation that they be integrated. For some this means paying attention to the principles of the triple bottom line; for others it is about taking a holistic approach to finding solutions to complex problems; whereas for yet others it is about maximising co-investment, partnerships and collaboration and focusing these on the problems of the day. Each of these aspirations involves integration, although in very different ways. Grain & Graze attempted to deal with all these forms. With highly specified objectives and targets dealing with economic, environmental and social outcomes, 66 partners involving three scales of governance as well as science and community collaborators, and multidisciplinary research teams working across 50 or so research projects, integration was the catchcry of Grain & Graze. At its core the program dealt with cropping and grazing farming systems, adding yet another dimension of integration to the mix. This paper explores each of the forms of integration and the institutional arrangements in Grain & Graze that either supported or limited their success. It finds that frameworks for integration are highly challenged when these several forms of integration take place simultaneously, particularly when the expectations among diverse stakeholders about integration are unclear and when there is scant expertise and experience in operating within integrated frameworks. Under such situations, point-of-practice integration becomes a critical form of integration, a form which can and should be planned for at the commencement of complex research programs involving an on-ground adoption expectation.

The Systems Approach – Research or Research Management

1974 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Parvin ◽  
Fred H. Tyner
Keyword(s):  
Systems Analysis ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Research Management ◽  
Analysis Approach ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Agricultural Experiment Station ◽  
Primary Research ◽  
Experiment Station ◽  
Agricultural Experiment

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the management of larger multidisciplinary research projects in the existing agricultural experiment station framework. Through a recounting of changes occurring in agriculture and their implications for research, the need for research management is established.Next, systems analysis is introduced as a means for organizing the quantity and variety of resources involved in large multidisciplinary research projects. After a discussion of the requirements for engaging in systems analysis, suggestions are made for organizing research through the systems analysis approach. An example, with diagrams, is used to help clarify the discussion and to strengthen the argument that systems analysis constitutes a potentially productive tool – both for primary research and for research management.

Cultural dimensions of a large-scale mixed-farming program: competing narratives of stakeholder actors

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 956 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Rickards ◽  
R. J. Price
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Public Science ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Mixed Farming ◽  
Insight Into

Grain & Graze was an innovative, multi-scale, multi-organisational, inter-disciplinary and triple bottom line research, development and extension (RD&E) program conducted to investigate and improve mixed-farming systems in Australia from 2003 to 2008. This paper reports on a sociological evaluation of the program’s institutional arrangements that was undertaken as one of a small number of social research projects within the program. Based on discourse analysis and investigation of participant experiences, it found the program was characterised by two competing views of what the program was or ought to be. Weaving across the program’s formal and informal elements and national and regional scales of management, these ‘narratives’ reflect the program’s coexisting ‘revolutionary’ aspirations and ‘organisational’ aspirations. Attention to the coexistence of these narratives and the way they were expressed within the program provides insight into the values, complexity and challenges of agricultural RD&E programs. It points to the significance the broader philosophical and governance context has for contemporary agricultural RD&E programs and other public science and sustainable development initiatives.

scholarly journals Vulnerability Concepts and its Application in Various Fields: A Review on Geographical Perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shitangsu Kumar Paul
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Sustainability Science ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Research Cooperation ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
Universal Definition

Vulnerability has no universal definition. Experts from various disciplines use the concept and define vulnerability, which leads diverse measuring methods to serve their own purpose and interests. Approaches to define vulnerability vary among the disciplines because of the various components of risk, household response and welfare outcomes. The objective of this paper is to present an overview based on available scientific literature from various disciplines to examine the origin, evolution and use of the vulnerability concept across different field of studies. Vulnerability is exclusively used in various disciplines such as geography, anthropology, economics, ecology, public health, poverty and development, sustainable livelihoods, famine and food security, sustainability science, land management, disaster management and climate change. Therefore, different disciplines have their own reasons for defining, measuring and developing conceptual models of vulnerability; hence there is no reason to presume that concepts, measures and methods will be universal across the disciplines. Lessons learned from one area may not be equally suitable for all. Hence, differences between various fields need to be bridged by a holistic approach and multidisciplinary research cooperation, and geography as a unique multidisciplinary field of study has the major disciplinary legitimacy to fill up the gaps and to create a common platform to work together in vulnerability research among the various research traditions. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jles.v8i0.20150 J. Life Earth Sci., Vol. 8: 63-81, 2013

Statistics and statisticians in agricultural research

1978 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 653-659
Author(s):  
D. J. Finney
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Statistical Treatment ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
Research Management ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
Scientific Training ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Special Privilege ◽  
Good Research

SummaryAgricultural research now has a long tradition of being served by statisticians, both those who are professionally trained and others who (in no derogatory sense) may be described as amateurs because their primary scientific training is in some other discipline. This paper urges that, as part of good research management, more attention be given to the numbers of statisticians needed and the responsibilities they should undertake.Questions to be considered include not only ‘Who should analyse specified bodies of data?’ but also ‘Which data require full statistical treatment?’. Poor judgement here can mean that the pattern of statistical activity is governed by the forceful approaches of other scientists more than by the scientific content of a problem; moreover, statisticians may be left with no time for the vital tasks of collaborating with others in the planning of research and displaying initiative in new approaches to quantitative problems. Not all research institutes have yet made their statisticians collaborators and partners in research rather than technicians with sharply delimited duties.Agricultural statisticians today should be deeply involved in research in cooperation with other disciplines, as innovators in statistical technique, and to some extent in development of statistical theory. They must be encouraged to publish, as partners in research teams and individually, to produce and document computer programs that implement methods required in agricultural research, and to improve statistical understanding among their colleagues in other disciplines. They are scientists whose responsibilities and rights are equivalent to those of other disciplines but need to be interpreted in relation to the research role of their subject. This paper asks for their proper integration into agricultural research, and not for special privilege.

Researching an Activity-Driven Approach to Information Systems Development

2013 ◽  
pp. 431-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irmeli Luukkonen ◽  
Marika Toivanen ◽  
Anja Mursu ◽  
Kaija Saranto ◽  
Mikko Korpela
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research

The primary objective of this chapter is to introduce a socio-technical approach called the Activity-Driven (AD) approach to Information Systems Development (ISD) in healthcare and social services. The approach is based on the application of Activity Theory in ISD and on participatory and cooperative design principles. It has been studied and developed for over a decade in cooperation between IS researchers and healthcare professionals around twenty practice-oriented research cases, hosted by the participating health facilities. The authors define the AD approach and describe the characteristics of the AD approach and the continuum of the interrelated research projects since 1998. They also provide a glance at the business utilisation of the approach and discuss the tentative educational experiences of the approach. The aim is to contribute to the knowledge of socio-technical ISD by providing a versatile description of the AD approach, the characteristics, and the long-term cooperative multidisciplinary research efforts, and show the interplay between the AD approach that was developed and the conditions under which it was elaborated.

The Inclusion of Multidisciplinary Research in Science Teaching

2014 ◽  
pp. 99-120
Author(s):  
Eugene de Silva ◽  
Eugenie de Silva ◽  
Jeffrey Horner ◽  
Pamela Knox
Keyword(s):  
Science Teaching ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Fourth Dimension ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
Physics Knowledge ◽  
Independent Thinking

The educational process is described as a method whereby knowledge, skills, beliefs, values, and methods are transferred from one person to another. This chapter describes a series of research projects carried out from 1998 to 2013 that attempted to establish an effective process conducive to the transfer of chemistry and physics knowledge. The powerful combination of research and online studies with the latest technological tools are also discussed in this chapter. The chapter also provides the START model that signifies how different contexts may actually influence core learning. This further emphasizes the importance of the inclusion of research in teaching and how it provides a fourth dimension to teaching. This work also elaborates the importance of the multidisciplinary research-based teaching and how it promotes independent thinking and flexibility among learners.

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