Bates!Chapter 13, Discussion Questions!!13.1!The definition of the phrase a more comprehensive understanding — the integration of insights to produce a new and more balanced whole — is consistent with the integrated definition provided on page 16. (382)!!The phrase focused on in chapter 13 is a substantive part of the definition Repko gives: !

… a process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic that is too broad or complex to be dealt with by a single discipline and draws on the disciplines with the goal of integrating their insights to construct a more comprehensive understanding.!!

13.2.!The understanding that Silver, Bal, and Delph have in common concerning the integration of concepts is that they all “use the common ground created in STEP 8 to integrate the various parts or subsystems that compose the complex problem as a whole… using a written narrative, the purpose of which is to explain how the modified concept, assumption, or theory is inclusive of the others and fits best with the available evidence.” (384)!!13.3!In working with theories, there are a number of strategies available for achieving causal or propositional integration. Knowing which one (if any) is the most appropriate is first a choice between one (or several) of the following list!

• sequential or end-to-end!• horizontal or side-by-side!• multiple causality (multi-variant causation)!• cross-level or multilevel !• spatial!• analytical!

There is no one right answer to this question. Repko contradicts his basic theorem by suggesting there is. The most appropriate is situational and determined by the researcher and the problem being researched.!!13.4!Levels of causality concerning the rising costs of university education:!

• city: Falling housing prices/ lower tax revenue/ fewer homeowners!• state: Budgetary redistribution in state government!• nation: Health/Tax reform on federal!• international: job flight!• family: greater debt burden possible!• school: willingness to pay executives more, build more nonacademic venues while paying

teachers less… and passing on the cost to the student!!An emergent property — “an emergent property is defined as the characteristic ‘of a system to its elements but only at the level of the system as a whole’” (396) — that is present in the rising costs of university education is the society-wide shift in thinking about education such that teachers are not valued, students are expected to go to school to “get a good job” rather than be

“good members of society,” and which has transformed education into a business rather that a social obligation.!!13.5!Henry must clarify the identification of the emergent property (“thresholds”) as an emergent property and describe the ways in which the system of interactions are reinforcing effects of multiple causes and which then can form the basis of a more comprehensive theory. (399)!!13.6!“Van der Lecq and Repko use a similar process to identify their “base theories:” both niche construction theory and identity theory are already interdisciplinary (though imperfectly so) and incorporate both/and thinking…. they adhered to the principle of least action, making sure that the required changes would be the smallest possible.” (403)!!13.7!Spatial integration, applied to the problem of the instillation of a high speed rail system, would consider why the project would be beneficial in some parts of town but not others, why some business would prefer it and others reject it. It is a geographically heavy method of integration.!!Analytical integration, applied to the problem of the instillation of a high speed rail system, would seek to synthesize all the differing theoretical perspectives on this highly complex process involving multiple factors. (403)