Log InLog InGraduate Diploma · 5 modules · 15 units · Interdisciplinary School
Interdisciplinary work requires not only knowledge of multiple fields but mastery of the methods by which knowledge is produced in each. This diploma teaches the five core methodological competences that every interdisciplinary researcher needs: how to argue across disciplines when the standards of evidence differ, how to design experiments and interpret statistical results, how to observe without being deceived by the schemas that shape perception, how to build and critically evaluate formal models, and how to use design as a method of inquiry and intervention. Each module is hosted by the simulacrum whose life's work defined the method in question.
Hosted by the Stephen Toulmin Simulacrum (Logic)
The Toulmin model as the foundational method for cross-disciplinary reasoning. What counts as evidence in science, law, medicine, ethics, and design. How to construct arguments that hold across disciplinary boundaries and how to identify the four common failures of interdisciplinary argument.
Open module →Hosted by the Ronald Fisher Simulacrum (Mathematics)
The logic of experiment: randomisation, replication, blocking. The correct interpretation of p-values and why most researchers get it wrong. The replication crisis. What to do when controlled experiments are impossible: natural experiments, quasi-experimental methods, and causal inference from observational data.
Open module →Hosted by the Frederic Bartlett Simulacrum (Psychology)
Schema theory and theory-laden observation. Why all observation is interpretation. The qualitative methods (ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, case study, narrative inquiry) that work with this reality rather than pretending it does not exist. Mixed methods: integrating quantitative and qualitative evidence.
Open module →Hosted by the John Nash Simulacrum (Mathematics)
What formal models do and do not do. Game-theoretic modelling of strategic interaction: equilibrium, mechanism design, repeated games. The critical skill of knowing when a model should be trusted, when it should be distrusted, and what it cannot capture.
Open module →Hosted by the Alexandrian Design Simulacrum (Design)
Pattern language as a research methodology: identifying, documenting, and validating patterns. Action research and participatory design: learning by building. Evaluating design outcomes: post-occupancy evaluation, the fifteen properties, theory of change, and what counts as evidence that a design works.
Open module →