Overall Profiles of Epistemological Development

The purpose of this study is to understand the overall profiles of the Chinese engineering doctoral students’ epistemological developmental status through use of Perry’s scale, i.e., the measurement of Dualism, Multiplicity, Relativism, and Commitment. In this chapter, I shall describe the details of the quantitative data collection, data analysis, and interpretation. The results gathered from quantitative data collection and analysis provide an overall picture of the Chinese engineering doctoral students’ epistemological development as viewed through the lens of Perry’s theory. It will also serve as the basis for qualitative data collection and analysis.