Abstract

The role of knowledge and its sources in the academic field is central to cognition and action. The present research provides a theoretical and methodological viewpoint on evaluating sources of knowledge. This article presents a novel model and method for studying the epistemological attitudes (EAs) of academics toward sources of knowledge. The EA is an epistemological phenomenon and mechanism presenting the cognition of knowledge sources as a process occurring in epistemological, contextual, and subjective realms. Adhering to the model, the EA incorporates four concepts that embody the epistemological strategy and epistemological approach for knowledge acquisition, the context of relevant usage, the motivation for utilizing the source, and the inherent personal value acquired. Based on the model, a new method has been developed to study the sources of knowledge used by academics and represent their constructs. The development process consisted of three stages: formal, substantive, and procedural. In the formal and substantive stages, the content and methodology were developed, and in the procedural stage, the appropriateness of the content was assessed by adapting the expert review approach. A panel of seven experts comprising university academics and subject-matter experts in philosophy, methodology, education research, and psychology participated in the expert review study. The results present the experts’ analysis of the method regarding the content validity index (CVI). A questionnaire that explores academics’ EAs toward various sources of knowledge has been developed. The method reflects how well knowledge sources transfer objective and meta-knowledge dimensions. These help determine essential sources for education, research, and science.