Defining "More Comprehensive Understanding"

One of the key components of the definition of "integration" is the generation of a more comprehensive understanding. It is thus critical that this term also be carefully defined. The more comprehensive understanding that is sought in the process of integration should possess the following characteristics:

· It is more comprehensive in the sense of integrating phenomena, theories, and/or methods from multiple disciplines.

· It is respectful of but transcends each discipline’s insights

· It is likely more detailed than any single discipline’s understanding

· It is holistic: It is characterized by an appreciation of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.