The study is a contribution to the field of personal epistemology that emerged in the USA when pioneering researchers (Baxter Magolda 1992; Belenky et al. 1986; Perry 1970) explored and mapped patterns of implicit assumptions about knowledge and knowing and associated meaning-making by individuals.
The study employed a qualitative methodology to gain a holistic understanding of the personal epistemology of a cohort of tertiary preparation students who were enrolled in Certificate IV in Health Science Foundations (HSF) in 2009 in Australia. It was underpinned by a broadly interpretative paradigm that drew on insights from constructivism, phenomenology and hermeneutics.