Conceptual Integration and Measurement of Epistemological and Ontological Beliefs in Educational Research

Table 1

Key terms, definitions, and sources.

Term	Definition	Recent sources
Epistemology	The study of knowledge and beliefs about knowledge	Audi, 2003 [60]; Hofer [41] Feldman, 2003 [1]; Rescher, 2003 [5]
Epistemological beliefs	Specific belief about some aspect of knowledge that is part of a broader epistemology (e.g., origin of knowledge)	Hofer [41] Schommer, 1990 [19]
Epistemological world views	A set of beliefs or theory about knowledge, acquisition of knowledge, and knowledge justification	Lincoln and Guba, 2000 [6]; Mertens, 2005 [4]; Schraw and Olafson, 2002 [29]
Ontology	The study of the nature of reality and being	Mertens, 2005 [4]; Packer and Goicoechea, 2000 [39]; Merricks, 2007 [7]
Ontological beliefs	A specific belief about some aspect of reality (e.g., realism)	Lincoln and Guba, 2000 [6]; Merricks, 2007 [7]; Shadish et al., 2002 [9]
Ontological world views	A set of beliefs or theory about reality or being (e.g., social constructivism)	Lincoln and Guba, 2000 [6]; Mertens, 2005 [4]; Ponterotto, 2005 [8]
Realism	The view that all individuals share a common knowledge base and experience a similar reality	Cunningham and Fitzgerald, 1996 [61]; Feldman, 2003 [1]; Rescher, 2003 [5]
Contextualism	The view that knowledge is constructed base and that individuals experience a negotiated, consensual reality within a specific context	Cunningham and Fitzgerald, 1996 [61]; Feldman, 2003 [1]; Rescher, 2003 [5]
Relativism	The view that individuals construct a unique knowledge base and experience a unique reality even within a shared context	Cunningham and Fitzgerald, 1996 [61]; Feldman, 2003 [1]; Rescher, 2003 [5]