【Abstract】Scientists and researchers are faced with two competing trends.  One is the increasing complexity of the world in which research is taking place.  The other is the increasing specialization of disciplines and professions.  The most common response has been to encourage interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary research.  Unfortunately, that is often more difficult to accomplish than expected.  The challenge of working across disciplines dates back, at least, to the beginning of systems research in the U.S., in the 1950s.

At the IFSR Conversation in Austria, in 2014, a team of researchers began working on questions about systems research, and how models and approaches to research could become more whole, and less fragmented.  That work led to the production of a book, which is just being published now by Springer, as part of the Translational Systems Science series.  The concepts for the book are focused on a simple four-quadrant model, which connect to work by Robert Rosen, a theoretical biologist.  The four quadrants reflect the Four Causes proposed by Aristotle, but also reflect the four stages of learning in Participatory Action Research.  This four-part model is proposed as a means for beginning to evaluate the wholeness of models for research.   

【CV】Gary Metcalf, Ph.D., is the Past President, and current Vice President, of the International Federation for Systems Research.  He was President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in 2008.  He is a professor at Saybrook University, in the Department of Leadership and Management.  He earned his Ph.D. as a student of Bela H. Banathy, studying idealized social systems design.  His background includes practice as a clinical psychotherapist with family systems, management in large corporations, and consulting to corporations and government institutions.