Thinking beyond disciplines
Assumption - An exclusively scientific examination of the problem prevents innovative and realistic solutions of high practical value.
Individual
Data centric
General problem solving
Realistic problem solving
Specific problem solving
Society
Situation / requirement
Situation / requirement#
The figure differentiates among three areas of action, each of which has its own approach to address the problem. At first, the focus of the general and specific approach is examined.
Perspective - political education, journalism or psychology
Perspective - political education, journalism or psychology#
Area - Political education
Area - Political education#
Actors who follow this approach usually focus on determining the nature of a problem in general.
A scientific approach evaluates environmental factors, which
- affect the individual, or
- move society as a whole system.
The focus of consideration is usually directed at the properties or characteristics of a particular technology or technological progress as a whole.
Political actors turn to expert groups from various disciplines who have the necessary competence to understand the subject matter or to simulate a problem through experiments.
The assessment of consequences is accompanied by a recommendation for action.
Problem
- Independent assessment - Selected experts examine a problem according to the political framework conditions.
- Reference to the topic - examination of a problem from specific perspectives that repeat themselves from experiment to experiment.
- Quality of the data collected - The results obtained do not provide a representative range of general conclusions.
Summary - Comparing the results of recent scientific research, it can be observed that the findings not only show a very wide range of conclusions but also sometimes make opposite recommendations to increase the scope for action - see Chapter 10.2 - Consideration of the sustainability and effectiveness of applied procedures by operators and the legislator.
Area - Journalism
Area - Journalism#
In the area of political education or journalism usually, there is no competence for data compilation that aggregates and evaluates a large number of data sets from digital environments.
Instead, the attempt is to prove an assumption by carrying out experiments in practical trials.
The procedure is identical in most experiments.
- Targeted dissemination of false information in a social media application
- Evaluation of the interaction network generated
Summary - The problem is quantified using an unrepresentative data set.
Area - Psychology
Area - Psychology#
In the domain of psychology, conclusions are explained by examining the network of interactions made possible in social media applications. The foundation of those arguments is mostly driven by the findings of established research on human behavior.
Challenge - data compilation
Challenge - data compilation#
A major challenge relates to the method of data compilation, which justifies a conclusion.
Comment - In addition to the scientific approach, it is necessary to question the underlying conditions that result in or accompany the execution of a research project. A noticeable aspect is the date of appearance at which the results of a given research project are made public. The time of publication often approaches the dates of significant events, at which a political structure of power is about to vote.
- The results are the focus of public discussion. Due to public media interest, governmental instruments are forced to take action to confront a problem.
- Due to wrong identified causes, premature recommendations for actions are made, which point in the opposite direction about their effect.