Interdisciplinarity
We used an interdisciplinary approach to analyze the data that we collected from various methodologies. Our topic on friendship is complex and encompasses many subfields, which our members investigated individually. We created several conclusions on the making of friends based on the disciplines of culture, social science, neuroscience, and discourse analysis. By having various disciplines in parallel to each other, we were able to think across boundaries and link interesting findings that don't usually go together. Although this is only the beginning of a comprehensive study on the making of friends, our Digital Object attempts to grasp the totality of our topic and gives considerations to many potential topics for further investigation.
Neuroscience and Friendship
The subtopic of neuroscience and friendship can shed light to the neurobiological benefits of making friends. The underlying neurobiological mechanism suggests a potential unification of people’s various ways of making friends. These brain mechanisms suggest that bonding with friends can introduce positive social development and avoidance of mental disorders like depression (Güroğlu et al, 2007).
However, the study of friendship is fundamentally recursive, because we attempt to study our own minds and the result of that is rarely objective. Future research on the neuroscience and cognitive psychology behind the making of friends should provide more data for us to reinvestigate.
We used an interdisciplinary approach to analyze the data that we collected from various methodologies. Our topic on friendship is complex and encompasses many subfields, which our members investigated individually. We created several conclusions on the making of friends based on the disciplines of culture, social science, neuroscience, and discourse analysis. By having various disciplines in parallel to each other, we were able to think across boundaries and link interesting findings that don't usually go together. Although this is only the beginning of a comprehensive study on the making of friends, our Digital Object attempts to grasp the totality of our topic and gives considerations to many potential topics for further investigation.
Neuroscience and Friendship
The subtopic of neuroscience and friendship can shed light to the neurobiological benefits of making friends. The underlying neurobiological mechanism suggests a potential unification of people’s various ways of making friends. These brain mechanisms suggest that bonding with friends can introduce positive social development and avoidance of mental disorders like depression (Güroğlu et al, 2007).
However, the study of friendship is fundamentally recursive, because we attempt to study our own minds and the result of that is rarely objective. Future research on the neuroscience and cognitive psychology behind the making of friends should provide more data for us to reinvestigate.
Social Science and Friendship
Homophily, which suggests that people are attracted to those who are similar to themselves, is a well-established concept in the field of social science. We could actually hear interview respondents and case study subjects implying that homophily plays an important part in making friends. However, it is hard to say that people reject differences in their friends, which is why we should look into different aspects to really know about friendship.
Homophily, which suggests that people are attracted to those who are similar to themselves, is a well-established concept in the field of social science. We could actually hear interview respondents and case study subjects implying that homophily plays an important part in making friends. However, it is hard to say that people reject differences in their friends, which is why we should look into different aspects to really know about friendship.
Value Judgment
Making friends is a significant part of our life. And making value judgments is a significant part of making friends. Sometimes people consciously look for certain qualities in their friends, sometimes there are certain things going on in people’s mind without people being aware of those underlying mechanisms. In the process of finding the answer to our question, we were also making value judgments. While trying to be objective in utilizing research methodologies, we were making value judgments in choosing a concept or a field of study that we considered as important or interesting. The approaches that we took do not provide a complete answer to the complexity of friend-making, but they definitely give insights into some of the important aspects.
Multiple Approaches
In our study, we applied three approaches, which are quantitative questionnaire, qualitative interviews and personal case study. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses. Questionnaire is quick but lacking details. Interview is interactive but time-consuming. Case study is the most in-depth approach but could not be representative. We used all these three approaches because we think they can build on each other. Starting from questionnaire, we see a general view of people's value judgment on friend-making. Then interview provides us with a detailed answer for why people would favor some values over the others. Finally, through case study, we could track a whole story of how one's view on friends and friendship changes over time. We believe this is the best way to maximize the strengths of each methodology and bring out a fruitful result.
In our study, we applied three approaches, which are quantitative questionnaire, qualitative interviews and personal case study. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses. Questionnaire is quick but lacking details. Interview is interactive but time-consuming. Case study is the most in-depth approach but could not be representative. We used all these three approaches because we think they can build on each other. Starting from questionnaire, we see a general view of people's value judgment on friend-making. Then interview provides us with a detailed answer for why people would favor some values over the others. Finally, through case study, we could track a whole story of how one's view on friends and friendship changes over time. We believe this is the best way to maximize the strengths of each methodology and bring out a fruitful result.