Blog 3: Systems Thinking in Research: Considering Interrelationships in Research Through Rich Pictures

Stories/Lived Experiences

Authors: Bob Williams, Systems Thinking Practitioner, Trainer and Evaluator – ConsultantJoan O’Donnell, Systems Thinking Trainer and PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning Institute, Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)

1st year ADVANCE CRT Student Induction, Cork January 20
A number of people are standing in a circle, one of them is speaking.
1st year ADVANCE CRT Student Induction, Cork January 2023

Let’s start with a true story. It follows on from our last blog about focus and scope. But it highlights our tendency to start with focusing in on the subject of our research–with boundary setting­–rather than considering the wider scope, especially when faced with ‘a problem’ that we hope our research will address. Stating that something is a ‘problem’ is a form of boundary setting, as we will see.

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