Barriers to Interdisciplinary Studies in the Social Sciences: A Field Study

الملخص

Based on the importance of the interdisciplinary studies and their methods in the social sciences, the current research is concerned with the diagnosis and description of the barriers to interdisciplinary studies in the social sciences with the aim of finding out the obstructions associated with the structure of the academic context and the characteristics of researchers that prevent or hinder the application of interdisciplinary studies. The study used a set of methodological procedures which were the analytical descriptive approach, the case study method, and the non-random sampling method for a group of faculty members at the College of Arts and Social Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University and the Faculty of Arts at Ain Shams University. Thirty-two cases were studied; 16 cases from each faculty. The study found that the size of hindrances related to academic context were found to be 60% higher in the Faculty of Arts at Ain Shams University compared to the College of Arts and Social Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University. The study concludes that interdisciplinary studies in the social sciences are still at the stage of identification and conceptualization in the research community. Moreover, teaching staff are keen to remain within the boundaries of their specializations.