Integral Methodological Pluralism

Dr Tim Mansfield
Senior Researcher
Services 2020, Smart Services CRC
Queensland University of Technology

Tuesday 26th August 2008 at 11am

 

Abstract

Many of us in HCI and Interaction Design work in multi-disciplinary teams with other professionals and are presented with methods, practices and data from fields with which we are not familiar. While a detailed understanding of the methods of other disciplines is something only gained from extensive collaborative work, I have wondered if it's possible to answer fairly simple questions about whether a situation is being adequately investigated, are we using the right mix of methods, are we getting enough different kinds of data or are we getting lots of different kinds of data from a very similar perspective. Ken Wilber is a syncretic, integrative philosopher from the United States who claims that it is possible to answer these questions. His work is well-known in ecology and consciousness studies and in some psychology departments, but less known to social scientists. One of his most interesting contributions in the last decade is the notion of Integral Methodological Pluralism, which seeks to clarify meaningfully distinct knowledge realms in human experience and to characterise the kinds of approaches to gaining knowledge in each of these realms.

Short resume

Tim Mansfield has over ten years of experience in leading and co-ordinating human-centred, multi-disciplinary research about software. His core skills are an ability to grasp and synthesise multiple points-of-view in the pursuit of a design solution, a passion for working with diverse groups of people and a fascination with emerging software technology and trends of use. He completed a PhD about User-Tailorable Interfaces at the University of Queensland in 1995 and held the position of Senior Research Scientist at DSTC Pty Ltd for ten years after that. After a brief time as a senior researcher in the Braccetto project, a part of HxI initiative at National ICT Australia (NICTA), Tim is currently a senior researcher at Queensland University of Technology working with the Smart Services CRC.

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